GulfWatch: Stories about the ongoing effects of the BP Oil Spill from KRVS

Series produced by Richard Ziglar

Series image
Image by: Barry Yeoman 

This is a series of news reports and features about the BP oil spill commissioned by KRVS-FM in Lafayette, LA. It is part of the larger GulfWatch local reporting initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and managed by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. For more information on GulfWatch you can go to this link: http://www.publicmediaexchange.org/

This is a series of news reports and features about the BP oil spill commissioned by KRVS-FM in Lafayette, LA. It is part of the larger GulfWatch local reporting initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and managed by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. For more information on GulfWatch you can go to this link: http://www.publicmediaexchange.org/.

Most of these pieces are between six and twelve minutes long. This allows the producers to get away from the usual soundbites and put the impacts of the BP oil spill in a broader context--examining, for example, the underlying issue of widespread land loss, which has made the bayous much more vulnerable to oil spills. The producers are also interested in giving voice to indigenous peoples (the Houma, Atakapa-Ishak, and Pointe-au-Chien nations) as well as Creole, Cajun, and Vietnamese-American people, who have long been settled in the bayous of South Louisiana, and looking at the impact of the oil spill on their communities.

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This is a series of news reports and features about the BP oil spill commissioned by KRVS-FM in Lafayette, LA. It is part of the larger GulfWatch local reporting initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and managed by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. For more information on GulfWatch you can go to this link: http://www.publicmediaexchange.org/. Most of these pieces are between six and twelve minutes long. This allows the producers to get away from the usual soundbites and put the impacts of the BP oil spill in a broader context--examining, for example, the underlying issue of widespread land loss, which has made the bayous much more vulnerable to oil spills. The producers are also interested in giving voice to indigenous peoples (the Houma, Atakapa-Ishak, and... Show full description


11 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Unemployed oyster shucker Tam Nguyen , Credit: Barry Yeoman
For many of Louisiana's oyster shuckers, shrimp peelers, and deckhands, survival after the BP oil spill meant accepting one-time payments of $5,000...

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jul 17, 2011
  • Length: 06:14
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Ve Nguyen is one of three fishers who have filed test claims for subsistence loss., Credit: Barry Yeoman
Kenneth Feinberg, the Boston attorney in charge of reviewing claims for the BP oil spill, says he expects to start paying interim and final claims ...

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jul 06, 2011
  • Length: 05:45
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Theresa Dardar says crabbers have replaces the forest in her back yard., Credit: Barry Yeoman
The 700-member Pointe-au-Chien indian tribe south of Houma, Louisiana was one of the first communities to take a direct hit from the BP oil spill. ...

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jul 06, 2011
  • Length: 07:59
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
The BP oil spill triggered an outpouring of volunteer energy. Concerned Americans lay boom, picked up tar balls, and performed mundane tasks like a...

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jul 06, 2011
  • Length: 05:42
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Torbjörn Törnqvist says sea-level rise will overtake natural subsidence as a cause of land loss., Credit: Barry Yeoman
Most of us shudder to imagine the impact of another large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and for good reason. A spill in future decades could hav...

  • Added: Jul 05, 2011
  • Length: 04:36
Caption: Rosina Philippe wonders whether Grand Bayou can survive as a subsistence community., Credit: Barry Yeoman
Members of the Atakapa-Ishak tribe have found a creative use for a high-tech fencing material that has protected soldiers in Iraq and strengthened ...

  • Added: Jul 01, 2011
  • Length: 06:55
Caption: For Byron Encalade, oysters and culture are inseparable., Credit: Barry Yeoman
In Pointe-a-la-Hache, Louisiana, the oyster harvest feeds widows, sustains relationships, and keeps the rural economy humming. But the BP oil spill...

Bought by KUT and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 01, 2011
  • Length: 07:23
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Darla Rooks looks out over the oiled marshland of Bay Jimmy. , Credit: Barry Yeoman
It has been over a year since the Deepwater Horizon blowout, but it’s still too early to measure the complete cost of the ensuing disaster. Despite...

  • Added: Jul 01, 2011
  • Length: 11:47
Caption: Bryce Michel worries that once customers find an alternative to the Gulf Coast, they won't return., Credit: Barry Yeoman
(NOTE: This piece is non-narrated.) The Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) has predicted that most businesses will recover from the BP oil spill b...

  • Added: Jun 30, 2011
  • Length: 06:44
Caption: Wilma Subra questions how the government measures seafood safety., Credit: Barry Yeoman
(NOTE: This piece is non-narrated.) The Guardian has described Louisiana chemist Wilma Subra as BP’s “worst nightmare.” A winner of the MacArthur ...

  • Added: Jun 30, 2011
  • Length: 05:49
Caption: Kirby Verret recalls when Dulac had more land and more people., Credit: Barry Yeoman
The Houma Indians and Cajuns who live in in this Terrebonne Parish fishing village have watched its population drop by more than 50 percent since 1...

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jun 30, 2011
  • Length: 11:05
  • Purchases: 1