Eighteen people have died near the Michigan Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Bituman Spill of 2010

Update>>>4/4/13 In response to the Exxon spill in an Arkansas neighborhood, this link updates how many people and counting died within one mobile home park….

“…where residents of one trailer court and neighborhood along the oiled riverbank blame exposure to tar sands oil and fumes for illness outbreaks and eighteen deaths––and counting.11″

Update>>> “On July 25, 2010, a tar sands oil pipeline ruptured near Marshall, Mi. The diluted bitumen traveled 40 miles down the Kalamazoo River to Morrow Lake. More than a month later, health providers reported 145 patients with symptoms associated with the spill. State officials surveyed 550 people from communities along the river and found 53 percent of the residents reported health problems – headaches, nausea and respiratory ailments.”

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We requested more detail in these 11 deaths and Dr Ott responded…

Begin forwarded message:

From: Riki Ott

Date: May 14, 2012 1:51:59 PM CDT

Subject: Re: Dr Ott Question on the 11 deaths in the small trailor park since the spill

Kim, Dick,Sorry, this got buried in my inbox. The source for this is Michelle BarlondSmith who lived in the trailer court until last week. The 11 who died lived in the same trailer court. While we can’t say the 11 died b/c of the tar sands oil spill, which flowed right past their doorsteps and yards, the people who died included some whose cancer was in remission or had other chronic illnesses that worsened after the spill. Michelle is co-founding a new group, Shout Out!, to share these stories and other similar ones with activists like yourselves. Shout Out is planning a “wall” of names and brief descriptions of lives truncated by the Enbridge disaster.Hope this helps.
RIki

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Riki Ott, marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor, reported that

“Already eleven people have died in one small trailer court near the Kalamazoo River from illnesses that they and their doctors believe were triggered or worsened by the tar sands (spill) that flowed past their homes and soiled the river banks.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/gulf-oil-spill-anniversary_b_1440704.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Here is the Kalamazoo video two years later.