Divers say they still suffer ailments from 2010 BP oil spill

Divers say they still suffer ailments from 2010 BP oil spill
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/divers-say-they-still-suffer-ailments-from-2010-oil-spill/212313 4

"During the Deepwater Horizon disaster three years ago, few people got as close to the action as Scott Porter.

Porter, a diver with a degree in marine biology, worked in Louisiana as a contractor for oil companies and had become fascinated with the corals growing on oil rigs. He and some friends volunteered to collect samples of corals near the spill for federal officials. They were also paid to take reporters from CBS News and other outlets into the Gulf of Mexico to view the spreading slick.

Federal officials "kept telling us it was safe," Porter said. So he and the other divers he worked with relied on that advice and kept plunging into the gulf.

At the time, Porter was a fit, healthy guy, just 42, who had performed 6,000 dives. He competed in martial arts tournaments. He didn't expect to get sick. But soon after swimming through murky water full of oil and chemical dispersants, he said, he began suffering from a variety of ailments — a burning sensation in his chest, migraine headaches, skin rashes, nausea."