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Two Years After The BP Spill

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Two years after the BP oil disaster, we look at the environmental consequences in the Gulf, and the consequences for BP, whose business is booming.

In this April 21, 2010 file image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. (AP)
In this April 21, 2010 file image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. (AP)

The BP ads all over television now show a smiling, sparkling Gulf coast and invite you down for some fine tourism.  Happy families in the perfect sand.  Sizzling seafood.  Good times.  But two years ago this month it was blowout time in the Gulf of Mexico, with BP’s giant Deepwater Horizon rig a ball of fire and millions of gallons of oil and toxic chemicals headed into the Gulf.

Now come the reports of eyeless shrimp.  Fish with lesions.  Hydrocarbons in soil and vegetation.  While BP is back to gangbuster growth and ready to drill on.

This hour, On Point:  the Gulf environment and BP, two years after disaster.
-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

David Hammer, an investigative reporter at the Times Picayune. He led the paper's investigation of what went wrong on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Aaron Viles, deputy director, Gulf Restoration Network, which advocates for habitat protection in the Gulf.

Abrahm Lustgarten, a reporter for ProPublica, his op-ed in the New York Times last Friday was titled, A Stain that Won’t Wash Away. He's the author of Run to Failure: BP and the Making of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.

From Tom's Reading List

The New York Times "Less than two years ago, the British oil company BP was worried about its very survival as a seemingly unstoppable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatened to destroy its finances and reputation."

Forbes "Within four months, as BP shares halved and talk swirled about it seeking bankruptcy protection, the ax fell on Hayward, the only public culprit of this mess. Dudley was tabbed with saving the ship. And he has done so."

ProPublica "Two years after a series of gambles and ill-advised decisions on a BP drilling project led to the largest accidental oil spill in United States history [1] and the death of 11 workers [2] on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, no one has been held accountable."

al Jazeera "Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause."

Video: al Jazeera Reports

Video: NASA's Views Oil Spill

This program aired on April 24, 2012.

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