Oil recovery workers remain hospitalized

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/27/gulf.oil.spill.sickness/index.html?hpt=Sbin

May 27, 2010 2:30 p.m. EDT

Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- Seven oil spill recovery workers who complained of feeling ill remained hospitalized in a New Orleans suburb Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

All seven were at West Jefferson Medical Center, said spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo. The symptoms they had complained of -- dizziness, nausea and headaches -- have somewhat subsided, and they are in good spirits and under observation, she said.

About 10 workers complained of feeling ill Wednesday, prompting officials to recall more than 100 boats from an area adjacent to the Mississippi River delta. Lisa Faust with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said she believes as many as five were treated at the scene.

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The Unified Command -- a coalition of agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior and the National Parks Service -- said Wednesday it recalled 125 vessels from Breton Sound, which lies about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans.

"No other personnel are reporting symptoms, but we are taking this action as an extreme safeguard," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robinson Cox.

The vessels were involved in cleaning up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since April, when an oil rig sank about 40 miles south of Louisiana, opening up a leak that has been gushing crude oil into the water.

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