I'd Like My Life Back

On April 20th, 2010, out in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded. The oil spill that followed is still considered the largest environmental disaster in the history of the United States. Today, we are looking at the impacts of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster 13 years later. We hear about the ongoing health effects on people who helped clean up the oil spill and ask, has the broken system that led to this avoidable disaster been fixed?

We speak with investigative reporter Sara Sneath (@SaraSneath) about her reporting on the health impacts on spill cleanup workers, and then we hear an interview with Sheree Kerner, whose husband, Frank Stuart, died after exposure to toxins during the cleanup. She now advocates for regulation changes. And we interview Kevin Sligh, the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, about whether the broken system has been fixed and what is being done to prevent another disaster.

Produced and hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Sara Sneath.

Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Editing help was provided by Rosemary Westwood, Halle Parker, and Garrett Hazelwood. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti.

Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.