LISTEN: Roundtable Call Series – 3 Years into the BP Oil Disaster

Three years into the BP Oil Disaster, BP's executives and well-funded PR campaigns claim the Gulf Coast has recovered. But Gulf Coast communities are living a different reality.  This call series aims to inform media and the public of current conditions along the Gulf Coast, and connect the press with residents, advocates, and experts from diverse Gulf Coast communities.

• Listen: Scroll down to hear Gulf Coast community-based medical experts, lawyers, scientists, advocates, fishermen, and indigenous leaders speak about the ongoing impacts of the BP oil disaster.
• Connect: email mathsavage@gmail.com for panelist contact information.
• Download full panelist bios

 This roundtable call series, hosted by Bridge the Gulf Project and the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health, took place on April 12th, 2013, the day after BP's annual shareholder meeting in London and nearly 3 years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Call #1 – Bodies in Crisis: The Continuing Health Impacts of Human Exposure to BP's Toxic Oil and Dispersant Mix

“Communities along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico (states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida) have experienced severe human health impacts as a result of being exposed to the BP crude oil and dispersant associated with the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster...” - Wilma Subra, Chemist

• Ada McMahon (Moderator) lives in New Orleans and is a Media Fellow with Bridge The Gulf Project.
• Dr. Wilma Subra of New Iberia, LA is a Macarthur Prize-winning chemist affiliated with the Subra Company and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN).
• Dr. Mike Robichaux is a physician and former state senator whose Raceland, LA doctor’s office has provided healthcare to residents of rural bayou communities in south Louisiana for decades.
• Kindra Arnesen is the mother of two and the wife of a commercial fishermen turned clean-up worker by the BP Oil Drilling Disaster.
• Riki Ott, PhD, is a marine toxicologist, author, and former commercial fisher who lives in Cordova, Alaska. 
• Monique Harden is the co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, a public interest law firm dedicated to upholding our human right to live in a healthy environment.

Call #2 – Follow the Cash: BP's Trial, Penalties, and Defining 'Restoration' for the 5 Gulf Coast States

• Aaron Viles (Moderator) is the Deputy Director of the Gulf Restoration Network and was a founding Advisor to the Gulf Coast Fund.
• Ms. Jackie Antalan is a 4th generation native of Mobile, AL and the Director of Programs and Outreach for Operation Home Care, Inc.
• Roberta Avila of Biloxi MS is the Executive Director of the Steps Coalition, an alliance of local non-profits, civic organizations and faith-based groups united in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to promote authentic ‘recovery’ and a more healthy, just and equitable Mississippi Gulf Coast.
• Casi (kc) Callaway is the Executive Director and Baykeeper of Mobile Baykeeper, an Alabama environmental advocacy organization that organizes, researches and educates Mobile Bay communities of on issues that affect public health, environment and quality of life.

Call #3 – First Nation (Indigenous) Communities of the Gulf Coast: Confronting BP's Acceleration of Cultural Displacement/Genocide

"Indigenous people and communities of the Gulf Coast were the first ones here, living sustainably and resiliently for centuries, yet today they are typically the most vulnerable, impacted and forgotten of us all - be it during, after or in between our region’s increasingly frequent natural and man-made disasters..." - Derrick Christopher Evans, Gulf Coast Fund

• Derrick Christopher Evans (Moderator) is the director of Turkey Creek Community Initiatives, a managing advisor to the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health, and a co-founder of Bridge The Gulf Project. 
• Shirell Parfait-Dardar is Chief of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, a tribal group that may be forced to relocate due to their lands disappearing and, more recently, to their lying in the heart of BP-oiled water and land.
• Chief Albert P. Naquin is Chief of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, a tribal group that may be forced to relocate due to their lands disappearing and, more recently, to their lying in the heart of BP-oiled water and land.
• Mrs. Clarice Friloux of Grand Bois is a member of the United Houma Nation and an outspoken advocate against the siting of BP’s hazardous waste in her community.
• Chuckie Verdin is Chief of the Pointe-au-chien Tribe, a small American Indian fishing community of 68 families in Point-Aux-Chenes, Louisiana.
• Theresa Dardar is a Council Member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe.
• Brenda Dardar-Robichaux is the former Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation and a current Managing Advisor of the Gulf Coast Fund.

  *** RECORDING OF THIS CALL COMING SOON ***

Call #4 – Commercial Fishing Families: Economic Justice, Fishery Health and an Uncertain Future

“... It has now been three years since the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, and the $25,000 paid to these [fishing] families doesn't even cover one year of losses. These families are not eligible to make another claim and they continue to suffer from this fisheries and economic disaster. BP needs to make these fishing families ‘whole’ and give them their lives back.” - Michael Roberts, Fisherman

• Ada McMahon (Moderator) lives in New Orleans and is a Media Fellow with Bridge The Gulf Project.
• Colette Pichon Battle, Esq. is the Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy, a regional advocacy organization in Slidell, LA.
• Clint Guidry is a lifelong resident of Lafitte, Louisiana, a third-generation commercial fisherman, and a veteran of the Vietnam War.
• Tracy Kuhns is a resident of Barataria, LA and has been the co-owner of a family-owned and operated commercial fishing vessel for 20 years.
• Thao Vu of Biloxi, Mississippi is a Case Manager at Mercy Housing and Human Development and a Managing Advisor of the Gulf Coast Fund.
• Kathy Birrin, from Hernando Beach, Florida, is the wife of a commercial fisherman and co-owner of a family owned and operated dock that buys seafood from other fishermen to process and sell.
• Paul Nelson is a fourth generation commercial fisherman from Coden, Alabama and President of South Bay Communities Alliance.