Between The Lines: BP Gulf Oil Spill's Continuing Impact on the Environment (Week Ending 12/17/10)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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It Will Take Years To Assess BP Oil Spill Environmental Damage

Real Audio MP3

Interview with Kerry St. Pe, executive director at the Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

estuary In late summer, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, issued a report claiming that three-quarters of the more than five million barrels of oil that erupted from British Petroleum's Deep Water Horizon's oil rig after the platform's explosion which killed 11 workers -- had disappeared. Many biologists and scientists studying the Gulf oil spill were very skeptical of that finding. But a more recent government report from November more or less confirms that study. Still, the long-term impact of the massive BP oil spill on the environment and the fishing industry won't be known for many years.

The use of toxic chemical dispersants to break up the massive oil slicks and the building of sand berms -- or artificial barrier islands to defend against the movement of oil into estuaries rich with sea life -- continue to be controversial five months after the flow of oil into the Gulf was stopped.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Kerry St. Pe, executive director of the Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program, in the bayou country west of New Orleans that was most heavily effected by the BP disaster. He talks about the oil spill's short- and long-term impacts, as well as effective and ineffective measures used to mitigate the damage.

KERRY ST. PE: There was heavy impacts in the B-T basin, but it wasn't even comparable to the impacts I received in a 1997 spill of 10,000 barrels that occurred deep in the estuary. There's no way that 10,000 barrels were felt in the B-T basin from this spill, although there was a lot more oil released than 10,000 barrels, but most of that oil flooded into the open Gulf. But nevertheless, the B basin in particular was heavily impacted, particularly in the bird area. We had a lot of nesting birds that were impacted, a lot of pelicans, a lot of shore birds and a lot of endangered species.

To the naked eye, things look pretty good. I mean, the oil came in and affected some of the vegetation; it killed marine organisms, especially the young life stages -- the post-larval and larval shrimp and fishes. Of course, that's what you don't see. The vegetation has recovered; the places that were killed above the sediment -- all that died, but the grass has resprouted from the rhizomes. I would say it's 90 to 95 percent recovered. But it's the offshore stuff, offshore breeding stocks, offshore fisheries -- we don't know how much that was affected. The long-term effects we won't know for several years, while the monitoring goes on. We have to monitor so we can find out what the impacts are to the offshore breeding stocks; we have to monitor long enough so we can tell that what we've seen as far as impacts or changes in the population are due to the oil rather than to normal fluctuations in the populations.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Kerry St. Pe, at least 1.8 million gallons of the chemical dispersant Corexit were sprayed both on the surface and deep underwater to try to break up the oil. What's your view on their use?

KERRY ST. PE: Dispersants don't lessen the impact, the toxicity of the oil at all. They don't do anything to lessen the impacts of the oil. The only thing they can do is transfer the area where you see impacts, -- and with the southeast winds we have in Louisiana, predominantly, there's no question that most of that oil, if not all of it, would have been stacked up in our internal estuary, being blown by the southeast wind. And downwind is the B-T national estuary, as well as the Breton Sound estuaries. So by dispersing it, by allowing the dispersed oil to be mixed with the water column, you have a situation where the oil is now moving in accordance with the currents, which takes it away from Louisiana. So those impacts are felt in the open Gulf, which is a lesser impact as far as vulnerability of the organisms.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, on balance, then, did you support the use of dispersants the way they were used?

KERRY ST. PE: Yes, I did. In my opinion it was the best thing to do.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal initiated a project, which is ongoing, to build sand berms along the shoreline, ostensibly to protect the estuaries from the oil. But a lot of experts said it wasn't going to be effective. What do you think?

KERRY ST. PE: We didn't support the building of the sand berms at all. We didn't formally object to the construction of the sand berms, although we did voice opposition in the media. That was going to be at a cost of $180 million, and BP was paying for it, and aside from the enormous waste of a resource, a waste of sand that we could have used to construct the barrier islands legitimately, they built these sand berms, which were six-foot high levees of sand, for the purpose of "keeping the oil out." We saw that as a...not a good thing.

Contact the Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program at 1-800 259-0869 or visit their website at btlnep.org