Deepwater Horizon Fifth Anniversary: Monday’s show (April 20, 2015)

Five years ago Monday, an oil well exploded deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven crewmen were killed on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig, about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. That deadly incident was just the start of what became an all-out environmental catastrophe, as millions of barrels of crude oil spilled onto beaches and wetlands from here in Texas all along the Gulf Coast to Florida during a months-long effort to seal the well. BP, which owned the Transocean-operated Macondo Prospect where the explosion and spill occurred, was ultimately held primarily responsible for gross negligence and reckless conduct and has paid out billions in cleanup and court settlements.

As Texas and other Gulf Coast states have endured those massive cleanup efforts, the loss of wildlife habitat, and extensive damage to the fishing and tourism industries, the effects of the explosion and spill are still being felt.

On today’s Houston Matters, we find out what the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative has learned about the environmental effects of the spill on the Gulf itself. And we talk with Margaret Brown, the director of a new documentary called The Great Invisible, which you can see on Houston Public Media TV 8 Tuesday night at 10. The documentary explores the human impact of the BP oil disaster. And News 88.7’s Dave Fehling will examine if offshore rigs are safer now than five years ago. 

Also this hour: We consider the larger role Houston’s Latino community will play in shaping our city’s development in the years to come. We talk with Dr. David Diaz, Director of Urban Studies at California State University in Los Angeles, who recently visited the Bayou City to discuss how Houston should integrate the growing Latino community into its planning process in order to sustain its growth.

Plus: The Houston Rockets took game one of their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, while the Astros took two of three from the Angels. We discuss these and other developments in Houston sports, as we do most every Monday, with MK Bower.