Karen Savage's blog

It’s a pungent, nauseating smell, so strong you can literally taste it.  For nearly two years, it has blanketed the Eight Mile neighborhood of Prichard, Alabama, a predominantly African-American community just outside of Mobile. [...Read more]

Last week, three delegates from the Gulf Coast attended BP’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in London and spoke about ongoing impacts of company's 2010 Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The BP board responded by painting a rosy picture of the Gulf Coast ("It's an ecosystem that's used to oil," said BP chief Bob Dudley) and defending the company's use of toxic dispersant (Dudley again: "...Corexit is about the same as dish soap"). [...Read more]

In a letter published in today's Advocate, the Vice President of Operations of Texas Brine states that the company's sinkhole in Bayou Corne, LA has caused "no residential property damage." But some Bayou Corne residents disagree, and are posting photos on Facebook to show what they say are residential property damages caused by the ongoing disaster. Residents say they have informed both Texas Brine and local officials of these damages. [...Read more]

At the Gulf Organized Fisheries in Solidarity & Hope,(Go FISH) conference held August 4th in Westwego, oysterman Byron Encalade of Pointe a la Hache, La. was adamant. Encalade described his Gulf oyster grounds as such: “No spatting at all, nothing. The whole public sea grounds on the east bank of the river, except for a very small area…there is not one spat to be found. That is disturbing. Very disturbing.” [...Read more]

 Ashley Alleman and her husband knew something was wrong months ago. Amid reports of unexplained bubbling in nearby Bayou Corne, they’d been feeling strange rumblings beneath their home, rumblings they’d never felt before. [...Read more]

Photos and specimens collected by Gulf Coast fishermen, scientists and coastal residents will be included in Brandon Ballengée’s upcoming exhibit, opening on Saturday, May 5^th in New York City.  

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Across the Gulf Coast residents will pause to mark the second memorial/anniversary of the BP Oil Drilling Disaster and to remember the Gulf on Earth Day.  Below are some of the scheduled events.  
 
Thursday, April 19th [...Read more]

A few days ago, the Times-Picayune reported that 12,300 Louisiana fishing industry claimants have been paid a total of $357,000,000 for losses due to the BP Oil Drilling Disaster, averaging just over $29,000 per claimant.  [...Read more]

"Deficiency Letter on Interim Payment/Final Payment Claim".  The wording is ominous, but John Gooding, who is visibly ill, is not surprised.  He's received them before and has a feeling he'll be receiving more.  The letter further stated that John was missing documentation necessary to prove he has been "diagnosed with a physical injury/death that resulted from the Spill".  Illness claims are processed under the general GCCF category of physi [...Read more]