Gulf Shrimper Dean Blanchard of Grand Isle Sets the Record Straight About BP's Failed Cleanup

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The second phase of hearings in the legal battle over the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico ended on October 17th.ย Following two weeks of testimony by the U.S. Department of Justice and BP, U.S. District Courtย Judge Carlย Barbier will determine what quantity of oil was spilled into the Gulf. He will also decide whether BP was simplyย negligent or grossly negligent.

The Justice Department claims 176 million gallons of oil were spilled; BP argues that it onlyย spilled 103 million gallons. Under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Control Act, Judge Barbier can fine BP and its partners $1,100 per barrel should he find they were negligent in their actions leading up to the spill and in the cleanupย afterwards. The fine would rise to $4,300 per barrel if he finds the companies were grossly negligent or acted with willful misconduct, as the State Department alleges.

Using theย State Departmentโ€™s numbers, the fine could be $18 billion; ifย BPโ€™s numbers are accepted, the fine couldย be $10.5ย billion.ย 

The outcome of the case will play a role in all subsequent litigation around the BP disaster, including the case of Deanย Blanchard, owner of Dean Blanchard Seafood, the largest shrimpย buyer and wholesaler in the Gulf region.ย Blanchard’s company in Grand Isle, Louisiana is all but shut down now. Blanchard keeps a small fraction of his staff employed โ€“ more of them than he needs to keep his dwindling operation going. He doesn’t have the heart to make further cuts.

Blanchard estimatesย his companyโ€™s loss at over $100 million. He estimates that his business is now 15 percent of what it was before the spill. He keeps his doors open only becauseย he can’t bring himself to close down.ย He recently moved part of his business to a different area where some shrimpers are still able to harvest product, but he faces an uphill battle against BP, and an uncertain future, along with many other Gulfย fishermen.

Dean Blanchard talks about the use of the chemical dispersant Corexit during the BP oil spill:

This fall, BP launched a new PR campaign depicting itself as a victim of fraud. The BP adsย accuse people of filing fraudulent claims, and asks upstanding citizens to turn them in. Blanchard doesn’t doubt there are fraudulent claims, but holds BP responsible for allowing that to happen.

He and others in the fishing industry offered to help BP figure out who the real fishermen were since they know their community well, but BP turned them down. Blanchard suggests that BP may have wanted to create chaos, initially giving a token payment to anyone who wore a pair of white boots into theย claims offices so they could play victim later, just as they are doing now. On Facebook, activists encourage those affected by the spill to call the BP fraud hotline set up for this campaign and choke the companyโ€™s line with calls accusing BP ofย fraud.

BP‘s other commercials claim that all fishing areas have reopened, although the waters near Grand Isleย are not. Blanchard wonders why the government continues to allow the company to lie in its advertising.

BP‘s โ€œMake it Rightโ€ campaign,ย which asserts that things are back to normal, is a source of rage for many along the Gulf Coast. And Dean Blanchard doesn’t pull punches aboutย it:

Some of the shrimpers who sell to Blanchard periodically monitor the areas they used to work in. They have caught deformed shrimp with no eyes and oil in their gills, and other fish with lesions.

Recently, a fisherman gave him a fish with a hole in the middle of its body that Blanchard has kept on ice to show people as an example of the abnormalities in the seafood he has seen since the spill.


Fish with mysterious hole in its side caught by a fisherman and given to Blanchard.

Despite the government and company assurances that the seafood is safe, Blanchard’s insurance company dropped his product liability insurance. Blanchard wont be covered if the product he is selling turns out to be unsafe.ย 

Besides the fiscal strain, Blanchard worries about the health of his family. He says everyone he knows on the island now has sinus andย breathingย problems.ย 

Many have moved, including longtime resident Betty Doud, her daughter and grandchildren. She and Blanchard both tell me they can breathe better when they travel away from Grand Isle. Doud and her daughter are renting homes near New Orleans.

Over lunch, they rule out places to resettle that are sites for potential environmental disasters, crossing off all the states that have fracking activity, for instance. Doud recently sold off her Grand Isleย home and wonโ€™t ever move back. Like Blanchard, she’d rather sue BP than accept the meager settlement itย offered for herย loss.ย 

BP has been forced to take some responsibility for the health issues faced by residents and cleanup workers. In May 2012, as part of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement, $36 million in grant money was earmarked for behavioral and mental healthcare needs, making it possible for residents and cleanup workers to file claims in a class action suit against BP for their healthย issues.ย 

Meanwhile, more tar mats containing BP oil were discovered by the Coast Guard after the recent tropical storm Karen.

The amount of oil recovered in the cleanup process in Louisiana has grown this year. ย Garret Graves, chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, suggested in an interview with Reuters that the initial cleanup had clearly been insufficient since the amount of recovered oil increased this year.

Oil turning up on these beaches is no surprise to residents like Betty Doud, who witnessed activities in 2010 that suggested to her that cleanup workers were burying the oil rather than taking it away. ย 

Dean Blanchard isnโ€™t surprised either. He has no doubt that the reason there are no shrimp left in the area rests on the fact that Corexit was used to chemically disperse the oil, letting it sink to the sea floor where the shrimpย reproduce.ย 

The use of dispersant by BP irks Blanchard the most. He believes that if the government hadn’t allowed BP to disperse the oil, it could have been cleaned up.

โ€œI never knew you could buy a branch of the government, but BP bought the Coast Guard,โ€ he says. โ€œThey were complicit in letting BP do what theyย wanted.โ€

Blanchard is irked by the fact that BP was making tons of money and still cutting corners – putting the health of Gulf Coast residents and the economy at risk. And the fact that BP was allowed to do so by the government also riles him.

โ€œSomeone at the top needs to go to jail,โ€ Blanchardย says.


Makeshift memorial on the beach in Grand Isle for the eleven men killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig blewย up.


Tar Ball on the beach at Grandย Isle.


Message to BP on Grand Isle found on Main Street.

Photos and videos ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

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Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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