Tuesday 9.30pm SBS ONE
Wednesday 2.00pm SBS ONE (rpt)

Gulf of Despair

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BP says the waters in the Gulf of Mexico are open for business again two years on from the huge oil spill in the United States.

So David Brill visits the communities affected by the disaster to ask if life really has returned to normal… the answer is a resounding ‘no’.

In an area built around fishing, locals say livelihoods have been ruined by the effects of the oil and the powerful chemical used to disperse it. Some locals who helped with the clean-up say they’re now too ill to work.

David also visits Environmental Scientist Wilma Subra, who Dateline first met in the aftermath of the disaster in 2010. She shows him pollution still washing up on beaches.

So with such a gulf between BP and the local residents, what’s the truth behind their conflicting claims?

WATCH - Click to see David's report.

BP RESPONSE - Read BP's full response to Dateline's story and watch the company's series of 'Commitment to the Gulf' videos.

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID - David Brill talks to SBS Radio's World News Australia and explains more about the difficulties facing some of the people he met.

REPLAY - Look back at Dateline's two previous reports from the Gulf of Mexico... Oily Disaster! was filmed in May 2010 in the aftermath of the spill, and Toxic Legacy reported on the clean-up operation in August 2010.






Photo (oil rig): AAP

On air: 24th April 2012

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