Wash Exxon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Permeating the ship. that is when the cough began. >> nobody checked with us. nobody. they never did a follow up on us. never asked if we had consequences of it. they could have cared a less. i'm serious. there was no follow up. >> reporter: exxon told us it doesn't know how many clean up workers became sick. he never filed a lawsuit. never filed a claim. he could never prove the work he did on the valdez made him sick. exxon paid to study the health effects of almost every single creature that came in con fact with oil in prince william sound. every creature but one. >> from clams and muscles...

Over 6,000 had gotten sick. they explained it as a simple virus. the exxon crud. exxon was not required to report it to federal officials. at the time, the national institute of occupational safety and health was in agreement. >> total bs. the only ep deemology was that there were a few head colds they could identify. think didn't have any of the records. >> reporter: exxon never admitted fault in the case, but reportedly settled for $2 millions. he was one of the few workers to get compensation. the few lawsuits brought didn't show evidence caused. keeping them honest, the attorney says he is...

For people out of work, it means a temporary paycheck. the same with the exxonvaldez oil spill. some workers are dealing with what they believe to be health problems related to the clean up. now, health experts are worried it's happening again in the gulf. >> reporter: roy says he started getting six 21 years ago when exxonvaldez hit. he thought it was a blessing. >> i was out of a job. i had no choices. i was behind on my house payments. so, no health insurance. >> reporter: for six weeks, he worked on a ship to pressure wash exxon's crude oil of rocks. the photos show the steam that he says ...

The human beings in prince william sound. >> reporter: alaska attorney represented one of the few workers who did sue. in the process found out that hundreds of workers involved had fallen sick. you found all of this out years later based on -- >> one worker i remember sented. exxon was forced to concede that gary was a very sick man. >> reporter: his client, gary stubblefield sued exxon in the clean up. he traveled to alaska to an exxon office in houston where medical records have been held. records exxon asked the court to seal for privacy reasons. >> i was shocked. >> reporter: he says the ...

Them into this situation where bp holds all the cards and bp is letting these workers get sick. >> back in alaska, roy dalthorp's coughing had ans never stopped, he now has skin rashes. his health is literally crumbling. >> i'm going blind. >> you think you were poisoned out there? >> yes. yes. silently poisoned. and that's what's happening to those people down in the gulf. >> drew is joining us now. drew, health officials are monitoring cleanup workers here in the gulf. we've seen some of that. are you saying that there was no one monitoring in alaska and there was no follow up either? >> san...