video at:
http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/04/gulf_coast_fisherman_on_bp_oil.html
By Casey Toner | ctoner@al.com
on April 23, 2014 at 4:59 PM
The 2010 BP oil spill is still wrecking havoc on some Gulf Coast fisherman, The Huffington Post reports.
Byron Encalade, a fisherman, said his business was at a “100 percent loss,” according to the report.
“Right now we’re solely relying on BP to keep it’s word, something they haven’t been doing,” Encalade said. “The oysters are not recovering.”
BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded on April 20, 2010, causing more than 200 millions of gallons to spill into the Gulf of Mexico.
A BP spokesman refuted Encalade’s statement, saying the oil did not affect oyster populations following the spill, according to the report.
Four years after the Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010 and killed 11 people as it drilled BP’s Macondo 252 in more than 5,000 of water off the Louisiana coast, there are still questions surrounding its long-term impacts on people, businesses, fish, wildlife and habitats. These pictures from the Associated Press, Press-Register and Mississippi Press staffers and even a couple from the general public represent a timeline of sorts of the days and months from the day the rig exploded through the winter cleanup after the well was officially declared dead on Sept. 19, 2010.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/20/bp-oil-spill-still-taking-a-toll_n_5182552.html
Huffington Post
Four Years Later, BP Oil Spill Still Taking A Toll On Gulf Fisherman: ‘We Haven’t Started To Recover’
The Huffington Post | by Nick Visser
Posted: 04/20/2014 1:23 pm EDT Updated: 04/21/2014 10:59 am EDT
The BP oil spill, often called the worst man-made environmental disaster of our time, first began four years ago today. On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded, causing more than 200 million gallons of oil to spew into the Gulf of Mexico. 11 workers on the rig died, and the resulting cleanup has already cost BP more than $26 billion.
But for many fisherman along the Gulf, despite all the time and money spent to try and heal the region, lasting effects are still taking their toll. The Gulf Coast’s oyster populations, home to about two-thirds of American supply, have been in decline since the spill.
Byron Encalade, a fisherman along the Gulf Coast, joined HuffPost Live’s Josh Zepps to discuss the ongoing impacts of the spill.
“You have to start to recovery, we haven’t started to recover.” he said. “We’re 4 years out now, and we haven’t saw the first sign, and most of the businesses, I know my business is at a 100 percent loss. Right now we’re solely relying on BP to keep it’s word, something they haven’t been doing. The oysters are not recovering.”
However, BP has said oyster populations were not impacted by the spill, providing this comment to HuffPost Live:
“Multiple sources of data indicate that oil and dispersant compounds did not affect oyster populations in 2010 after the spill occured. A Louisiana report from 2010 after the spill states that ‘no direct oiling of sampled reefs was noted during annual sampling of public oyster seed grounds in Louisiana. Field notes from 2010, 2011 and 2012 NRD sampling to not document a single visibly oiled oyster bed.'”
But Encalade said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Well, I’m going to say this, and God knows that I’m tired of being politically correct: BP’s lying.” he said. “I was out there on that boat … that’s one of the biggest lies ever told.”
Take a look at the oysterman’s story above, and watch the clips below to hear more about the ongoing recovery throughout gulf communities, four years and billions of dollars later.
Special thanks to Richard Charter