Video: Gulf still grapples with massive BP oil leak 2 years later
[Sorry for the ad.] 20 April 2012 (PBS) – Two years after the largest oil leak in U.S. history, the Gulf of Mexico region still struggles with its impact. Jeffrey Brown, David Valentine of the University of California, Santa Barbara and Garret Graves of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana discuss the state of the Gulf and related industries. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, here in the present, two years on, the Gulf still grapples with the impacts of the BP spill. These were the sights and sounds of the Gulf of Mexico in its agony, as four million to five million barrels of oil poured into the sea and spread from Louisiana to Florida, endangering wildlife and sullying the coastal wetlands. It began two years ago today, when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in flames. Eleven workers were killed, and the Macondo well began gushing crude from the ocean floor. Now BP is poised to settle with 100,000 individuals and businesses along the Gulf, including 16,000 cleanup workers and coastal residents who submitted medical claims for exposure to oil and chemical dispersants. On Wednesday, the oil giant formally presented a federal court with a $7.8 billion settlement, which the court must still approve. The amount includes $600 million in fees for several hundred plaintiffs’ lawyers. […]
