The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force is conducting hearings throughout the Gulf region to gather public and stakeholder input into its Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Strategy, due for completion on October 4, 2011. To judge by the meeting in New Orleans on Monday, concern about the lingering health effects of the spill, and skepticism about government studies that give seafood from the region a clean bill of health may become a repeated theme.

At the meeting, the Food and Drug Administration reported that seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat. After testing 80,000 samples in both federal and state waters, levels of cancer-causing and non-cancer causing hydrocarbons levels found were 100 to 1000 times below levels dangerous to human health. The results of the testing can be found here. In the meantime, the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Department of Health and Human Services are studying effects of hydrocarbons on the health of humans exposed to the oil. Their Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study is billed in NIH brochures as the “largest study ever about the health effects of an oil spill, it seems worth watching. The agencies are actively seeking current and former Gulf clean-up workers to take part.

Public comment was more disturbing than the government testimony. One witness accused the FDA seafood safety study of being a “sham” and offered anecdotes that people were being tested positive for high levels hydrocarbons – but offered no real evidence or proof. Many others offered views that also reflected a mistrust of the government’s safety assurances. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who chaired the meeting, reinforced that the purpose of the Task Force hearing was to gather information – but added it was also seeking to inform the public - and with ten more meetings to be held From Florida to Texas, the public and the Task Force will have plenty of chances to learn. – MM

TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo

The government’s nuclear regulatory agency said Friday it had issued another warning to Tokyo Electric Power Co. over the management of workers’ radiation exposure at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, after it was found that there were not enough dosimeters to cover all of the workers.

Some workers were sharing dosimeters while doing the same job because many of the devices were destroyed in the March 11 quake and tsunami, a situation that was not ”desirable from the viewpoint of ensuring workers’ safety,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the agency.

But the plant operator, known as TEPCO, had been able to secure a total of 420 dosimeters by Thursday, sufficient for each of the workers to wear a device when working at the radiation-leaking site.

TEPCO officials said the number of dosimeters available had declined from an initial 5,000 to 320 after the tsunami damaged devices. It had been managing the workers’ radiation exposure by ordering the leader of each work team to wear a dosimeter, but some workers had expressed concern about the situation.

Following the warning issued to the company on Thursday, Nishiyama said, ”From today, all of the workers will wear dosimeters. And if each individual cannot get one, the work should not take place.”

Nishiyama added that the measure is not expected to result in any work being skipped.

TEPCO was already warned over its lax management of radiation exposure in relation to a recent incident in which three workers were exposed to high-level radiation and taken to hospital.

Regarding the incident on March 24, it was found that a worker who should have been checking on-site radiation levels was absent and three workers had been engaging in work to lay cables without measuring the radiation dose.

According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a total of 21 workers have been exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisieverts so far during the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Workers are usually permitted to be exposed to up to 100 millisieverts in an emergency situation. The limit, however, has been raised to 250 millisieverts specifically for the work at the plant.

TEPCO has also decided to beef up security at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants after a man in a vehicle tried to enter the Daiichi plant and then broke through the gate of the nearby Daini plant on Thursday, according to the agency.

The agency said that it has ordered all nuclear-related facilities to enhance security following the incident.

Kyodo News