Challenging the Rhetoric : Five Years After The BP Oil Spill, Gulf Coast Resi...

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Challenging the Rhetoric : Five Years After The BP Oil Spill, Gulf Coast Residents Say "BP Hasn't Made Things Right"

By  Julie Dermansky  • Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - 21:31

If you ask Dean Blanchard, the largest shrimp buyer and wholesaler in the region surrounding Grand Isle, Louisiana, things “went from paradise to hell” in the five years following the BP oil disaster.

But BP's advertisements insist the company is making things right. A BP report on the State of the Gulf five years after the spill claims there is no lasting damage to the ecosystem. 

Behind the industry public relations spin, many coastal residents, including Blanchard, have seen their livelihoods destroyed and their health comprised. 

                     Dead pelican next to a tar ball on the beach on April 9, 2015 in Grand Isle, LA. ©2015 Julie Dermansky