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It sounds like the stuff of movie scripts and novel fodder, the idea of darkly clothed men sneaking in and out of hotel rooms, leaving behind watch battery sized listening devices, hidden in phone receivers and taped to the inside of lamp shades. Yet during the not-so-long-ago civil rights era, that seemed to be the primary business of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Three years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico set off the worst oil disaster in United States history, BP Chief Bob Dudley says everything is fine in the Gulf of Mexico. But fishermen paint a very different picture – of struggling fisheries, untreated illnesses from oil and toxic dispersant, inadequate compensation from BP, and an uncertain future.

hands across the sandNext week I’m going to share a post all about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of BP’s $4.5 billion criminal settlement with the federal government.  But today I just want to give thanks.  Not for the settlement itself, but for us, the citizens of and advocates for the Gulf Coast, and all the work we’ve put in to insist that BP be brought to justice and that our communities be made whole.

Crossposted from Colorlines. News reports say that BP has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice for criminal penalties for the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. According to The Washington Post, BP has agreed to pay $4 billion over five years for their role in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drill, which led to 11 workers dying and a lot of Gulf fisherfolk put out of work.

hale boggs courthouseI had hoped to write a full article concerning my thoughts on the subject of the BP Settlement Fairness Hearing held Thursday, November 8, but I (along with 3 others) was wrongfully accused of “live streaming audio,” and forcibly removed from the federal courtroom. I won't go into that now, but you can read Ada McMahon's article for more information.

live audio streamingThree BP oil disaster survivors and community advocates were forcibly removed from the fairness hearing on the BP class-action settlement yesterday, moments before the federal court heard objections to how that settlement would compensate people made sick by the disaster. The fairness hearing allowed U.S.

meds family of fiveWatching the last two years unfold has been both eye opening and heartbreaking. Earlier this week, as I sat with a twenty-seven year old mother of three from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, we went over the many health-related issues she and her family are dealing with. Her ten-year old daughter has severe stomach issues, breathing issues, skin issues, horrible headaches - there are very few days that come and go that she feels well.

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