Bridge the Gulf

August 17, 2012 - With the Oct. 1 deadline to opt out of the BP settlement fast approaching, Gulf fishermen are confronted with the tough choice of accepting what many say is an inadequate settlement payout or fighting for more with the risk of getting nothing at all.

August 9, 2012 - Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish has been evacuated after a massive sinkhole opened up last week following months of mysterious bubbling, rumblings and a strong diesel smell. The community sits atop an old salt mine where companies including Chevron and Dow Chemical store gas products, and the structure may be failing.

July 18, 2012 - With billions of dollars in Clean Water Act fines for the BP disaster slated to go to Gulf states, the region's businessmen and political leaders are talking about using the money for purposes other than ecosystem restoration. Gulf Coast citizens and advocates need to follow the money and demand accountability.

June 13, 2012 - You'd think that people who were devastated by hurricanes and failed levees, whose homes and businesses were built back in large part thanks to immigrant labor, would support rules to protect these workers -- but that's not been the case.

June 8, 2012 - Mexican guestworkers file federal complaints against a crawfish processor in Louisiana, alleging abusive treatment such as being forced to work 24 hours straight without overtime pay.

May 29, 2012 - The executive director of a housing rights advocacy group serving southwest Alabama, Teresa Bettis recently spoke with Bridge the Gulf and the Institute for Southern Studies about her vision for a more sustainable future for the Gulf Coast.

May 22, 2012 - Two years after the BP disaster, the United Houma Nation's outreach coordinator talks about living next to the oil industry and the future she envisions for her tribe and her home.