How in the world can BP possibly make good on the damage it has caused Louisiana and the rest of the gulf coast? The damage is far reaching on many levels and growing worse.
A friend of mine is a social worker for the state and they have been given special billing codes just for clients that are dealing with depression related to the oil leak.
What?!? Depression related to an oil leak? These are people whose livelihood depends on the Gulf and the wetlands: fishermen, charter boat captains, restaurant and hotel owners, shrimpers, etc. These are folks who rebuilt after being devastated by Katrina, knowing they had a tough road ahead. But they could see the future of things getting back to normal. No longer. Already substance abuse and depression rates are growing alarmingly as the people realize that their livelihood is gone, not just for a year or so but maybe forever.
And, let's face it, these are not educated people with a lot of opportunities for the most part. Their whole way of life just vanished in the blink of an eye. How can BP make restitution for that?
How can BP repair the damage to the wetlands and animal/sea life? They haven't even been able to stop the lead after a FREAKING MONTH.
The Advocate, the newspaper I work for, has extensive coverage available. You may want to check it out here.
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans also has coverage available here.
I read today that one of the local restaurant families here in Houston is suing BP because of how much they are having to raise their prices for seafood....not sure how I feel about that just yet but found it interesting how far the impact is already spreading
ReplyDeleteAs absurd as it seems, it's a legitimate concern. They haven't allowed fishing and/or shrimping since the explosion, so fresh gulf seafood is a at a premium - soon to be unfindable. They're predicting it may be 8 to 10 YEARS before it's really safe to eat seafood from the Gulf again.
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