Two cleanup workers have died, one apparently a suicide. The CBS Evening News (6/23, story 3, 2:40, Couric) reported, “We learned today two cleanup workers have died.” CBS (Cobiella) added, “We don’t know much. One apparently was a suicide, the other some sort of swimming accident, but neither apparently directly connected to the spill or cleanup.” The AP (6/23) reports incident commander Adm. Thad Allen “said Wednesday in Washington that one man was killed by what investigators later called a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Allen said the other worker’s death involved swimming. He would not provide more details.”
The Mobile Press-Register (6/24, Busby) reports Alabama charter boat captain William Allen Kruse shot and killed himself Wednesday morning “just before his vessel was scheduled to set out to take part in oil cleanup and protection efforts, investigators said.” Coroner Stan Vinson “said witnesses told investigators that Kruse had been upset about the loss of business caused by the closing of fishing grounds and public perceptions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.”
The Los Angeles Times (6/24, Hennessy-Fiske, Fausset) says the “apparent suicide…was a grim reminder of the mental health toll that may haunt the Gulf of Mexico region for years as industries are damaged and estuaries are despoiled by the BP oil disaster.” One charter boat captain said, “How can you deal with watching the oil kill every damn thing you ever lived for in your whole life?” The Washington Post (6/24, Hedgpeth, Fahrenthold) also reports on the apparent suicide.