Creating Missing Links in the Body of Evidence

A study of past litigation against offending oil companies by DANS reveals a legal strategy which is referred to as the Four Dog Defense. Victims become aware of this carefully honed strategy only when they have signed with an attorney for representation.

There are missing links in the body of evidence. These missing links are fundamental to any case to be made in court.

It works like this:

Four Dog Defense

1. My Dog Does Not Bite. (The chemicals can't harm you)
2. My Dog Bites, But It Didn't Bite You. (The chemicals can cause harm – but you were not affected.)
3. My Dog Bit You. But It Didn't Hurt You. (Our chemicals were present but you were not hurt.)
4. My Dog Bit You And Hurt You, But It Wasn't My Fault (You were hurt but 1. You signed a release. 2. You were exposed by someone else. 3. Everyone in your family has cancer so it must be genetic.) See the rest of the article

Removing the links is a matter of managing the clean-up as a cover-up.

This has been carried out with a Unified Command for decades.

Oil companies know if evidence is not gathered it cannot be used in court. Removing links in the body of evidence makes it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the offending company is responsible. Therefore, oil companies refuse to supply essential information on the contents of the spill, claiming it is proprietary. Ask yourself, how can it be legitimate to claim information on the material damaging the health of victims is proprietary?

And why is the offending company allowed access to materials which, in any other investigation, would be secured by law enforcement?

The company knew what was flowing through their pipe – but the victims, including locally hired clean-up workers, do not. To ensure justice is done the offending company should be denied any contact with the spilled material. This should be gathered and analyzed, directly, by law enforcement.

Listen to Dr. Michael Robichaux, who learned from experience during the BP Deep Horizons Spill.

Toxic oil spills impact human health / Dr. Mike Robichaux

MSNBC News

Inhaling or by Contact

The gases from the toxic chemicals stay in the blood for about three days after exposure. During this period the victim may experience inflammation in any of these areas, nose, throat, eyes, ears and sinuses. The symptoms are flu-like, also resembling allergic reactions.

After the gases leave the body the chemicals remain indefinitely. Now known as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), these find their way into the lungs. There, the PAHs cause inflammation, which is often diagnosed, and treated as Bronchitis or a similar condition.

PAHs stay in the body, beginning to concentrate in the body's fatty tissues. Over the next months or years they may also migrate to the organs which cleanse the body's system. There, they can cause organ death or cancer. Although they are only present in minute amounts they still can cause long term health problems and, eventually, death.

Its Only The Flu

Crude oil, either from the Hondo Preserve or elsewhere, has a high level of Benzene, Toluene, and Xylene as well as Hydrogen Sulfide. Here is the chemical profile of the Hondo.

These chemicals can impact you even when they are not detected by the sense of smell. In the wake of a spill many report what seems like the flu or allergies.

This is why the offender, following oil companies Four Dog Strategy, has PR people on the scene telling victims the smell is not harmful. Victims from the Mayflower Spill victims in 2013 and earlier victims of the BP Deep Horizons Spill were told the same untruths.

Treatment by a physician not familiar with the effects of petroleum poisoning will usually be for the symptoms and achieve a cessation of these symptoms temporarily.

During this early period the PR staff is following the script provided by their employers. They know nothing of the medical literature and do not have experience with past spills. They are brought in for the purpose and will disappear back to their home bases before any real alarms from victims sound. As employees, they have signed non-disclosure contracts and cannot discuss what happened.

For residents, the use of early compensation for financial losses can be accompanied by a non-disclosure agreement and make later claims impossible.

The number of individuals who will be compensated is severely limited. In Mayflower only 22 of the homes impacted were purchased outright by Exxon from the 64 in the impacted North Wood subdivision. The residents of these 22 homes were compensated for their hotel rooms, but the other residents were not. No information on the price paid for each of these is available. Many of the other residents left their homes to find other places to live because they were becoming ill.

Residents in homes much further away experienced the same symptoms and to day are still coping with chronic illness.

What to Expect – The Refugio Spill

The Refugio Spill is different in that very few people were impacted because they were in the spill area at the time. Most of those who we believe will eventually realize they were impacted were volunteers, eager to help, or short term employees of Plains All American Pipelines.

These are the people we need to contact. They face serious challenges and as yet do not realize this. They need to document the presence of the PAHs in their systems and assemble other documentation.

We are working to put together the essential partners to ensure monitoring is carried out and the samples are tested. These will then be held for the impacted individuals by their own physician with copies of the test results provided to the individual with an additional copy at our headquarters.

To be admissible in court monitoring must be done at a certified lab. These are not available in the Santa Barbara area but they are in Los Angeles.

For any future lawsuit to succeed in court monitoring should begin now. We are contacting local physicians with information on past spills and asking for their cooperation for these victims and also, for the first time, to compile the evidence which has, before, never been possible. 

You can help us by passing this onto your friends and neighbors in Santa Barbara and asking them to join our mailing list for updates below.  If you know someone who might have been impacted ask them to get in touch with us so we can make sure they have information and help.  Critical Information, on this site.    Thanks!