Grand Isle, Louisiana
The team began production by traveling to Grand Isle, LA from Dallas, TX. We traveled to Bataria Bay and some of the heaviest oil soaked marshlands. While there, we interviewed local business owners, residents, environmental specialists, and government officials.
​
Venice, Louisiana
The team traveled to Venice, LA from Grand Isle. While in Venice the team met with local officials fighting to clean the spill and documented the efforts of the hundreds of people volunteering their time. We also interview key BP contract workers that provided real insight to the facts. Venice’s economy is primarily built on the commercial and charter fishing industries, so we mainly focused on their economic deterioration compared to other cities we visited.
​
New Orleans, Louisiana
The team traveled to the LSU Petroleum Institute while on their way to New Orleans, to interview petroleum drilling experts about the technical causes of the spill. Once in New Orleans we interviewed state officials and many others while documenting the effects on the seafood industry. The team also conducted interviews with the Audubon Society and spoke with environmental expert about the present and potential long-term effects of the spill. With New Orleans still recovering from Katrina, we wanted to learn how this spill would affect development and reconstruction process.
​
Gulf Shores, Alabama
The team traveled from New Orleans, LA to Gulf Shores, AL. Here we interviewed local fisherman who described the oil slick moving into the precious rivers, bayous, and bays. The team interviewed more local government officials and environmental experts. With access to state parks and local officials we uncovered what the future holds for this tourism based town. We also communicated with the local residents and realty companies to find out what the affect on property value was going to be in the future.
​
Pensacola, Florida
The team traveled from Gulf Shores, AL to Pensacola, FL. Here we sat down with one of the top lawyers in the country, Mike Papantonio. His law firm was in the process of putting together a lawsuit against BP on the behalf of the city of Pensacola. The team also interviewed the University of West Florida’s Marine Biology experts and got a first-hand look at the research already being done. Our final stop will provide prospective of the “before and after” effects of the spill. On our way back to Texas we stopped through Houston/Port Arthur, TX and we saw further reaction from experts such as Dr. Riki Ott a marine toxicologist and Valdez researcher/survivor.
​
Houston & Galveston, TX
Major oil conglomerates such as BP and Transocean use Houston, TX as their home base in the United States. We interviewed oil industry and drilling executives, as well as their experts. Finally, we landed further interviews with experts on the Gulf Coast from the UT Marine Science Institute in Port Arthur, TX.