Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Fraudulent Fish: 50 Percent of Seafood Sold in Texas Mislabeled, New Oceana Study Reports

Think that tai sushi you're eating is red snapper? It's far more likely to be tilapia, says Oceana, a Washington D.C.-based ocean conservancy organization. This isn't a new concern, of course. Former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh wrote a scathing expose of the issue back in 2001, "Fish Fraud, ... More >>

Deepwater Horizon: Asian Hotel Owners Decry Proposed BP Settlement

Around 800 hotel owners have plans to descend on BP's headquarters along I-10 West today, condemning a recent proposed settlement between the embattled monolith and thousands of business owners because, apparently, they weren't invited to the get-lots-of-money-from-papa-BP party. A U.S. district j ... More >>

Payback

Dutch InvasiON

55 Pounds of Coke? Six Other Things Found on Galveston Beaches, Ranked from Worst to Best

Whales, gold rings, messages in bottle, coke​A jogger found 55 pounds of cocaine on the beach in Galveston this morning, a bigger haul than the 37 pounds someone else found there a year ago. In both cases, they turned it over to the cops instead of going all low-rent Breaking Bad. Of course, ... More >>

Legalize Online Poker? Texas Congressman Says Yes

Coming soon to a state near you?​U.S. Representative Joe Barton (R-Oil), the man who famously apologized to BP for the horrible way they were shaken down by the Obama administration after the Gulf oil spill, is introducing a bill to legalize online poker, the AP reports. Yay? Barton wants in ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Danton Nix of Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen

​ Yesterday, we spoke with Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen executive chef Danton Nix about his menu and the good and bad of customers having favorite dishes. Today we talk oysters, Groupon and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. EOW: What do you think about the move to give appellations to Galve ... More >>

An Oyster by Any Other Name

Pepper Grove oyster on the half shell at Branch Water Tavern.​At this past weekend's inaugural Foodways Texas symposium, one of the most eagerly anticipated seminars wasn't held in a conference room, and it didn't come with a PowerPoint presentation. Attendees instead slurped down all manner o ... More >>

Sergio Corona: Owner Of Sea Shell Store Put In Fake $28K Claim Over Gulf Spill, Feds Say

That's gotta be a coupla thousand bucks' worth right there​Sergio Corona sells sea shells down by the sea shore -- or so he'd have the federal government believe. Corona is the first person indicted in the Southern District of Texas for fraud in connection with the Deepwater Horizon spill. Pr ... More >>

KTRH's "Most Influential Houstonian Of 2010": KTRH's Michael Berry

Michael Berry: All bow to his influence​Who is the single most influential Houstonian of 2010? Annise Parker, who has garnered worldwide publicity for Houston? A piker. No, by far the most influential Houstonian this year has been Michael Berry, talk-show host on KTRH. At least according to ... More >>

Bob Cavnar: Five Questions With A Deepwater Horizon Expert

Bob Cavnar is not happy with investigative efforts so far​Bob Cavnar is an oil-industry insider who quickly became an expert-in-demand for reporters covering the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the resulting Gulf oil spill. He's written a book on the event, Disaster on the Horizon, and will b ... More >>

Reporting from the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium: The Gulf and the Spill

Robb WalshJim Gossen and oysterman Tracy Woody checking oyster leases in Galveston Bay.​At the Southern Foodways Alliance annual symposium this week, Brett Anderson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune moderated a panel discussion on "The Gulf and the Spill." Panelists were former Houston Press ... More >>

Drilling Ban Lifted: Five (Possible) New Federal Mandates

The Obama administration has lifted the ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is also enforcing steps to make sure a disaster such as the Deepwater Horizon leak never, ever happens again.Don't worry, we have a plan​The feds have outlined a bunch of tough new regulations and g ... More >>

Great Gulf Dinner: What Oil Spill?

​You may or may not have heard about this little thing that happened recently in the Gulf of Mexico. Some assholes were drilling for oil without following safety precautions and -- oops! -- nearly wrecked an enormous portion of the ocean for generations to come. Dicks. The good news is that t ... More >>

Gulf Oil Spill: Too Early To Be Optimistic?

Maybe some good news percolating?​It is too early to be overly optimistic, to answer the headline's question, but reports are starting to bubble up that the Gulf and its wetlands might just have gotten lucky with the BP spill.Lucky in that the results don't seem to be coming close to the worst-cas ... More >>

Local Oil Spill 'Action Group' To Host Mock Funeral At City Hall

orcoo.orgCome equipped​It took nearly three months to stop oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. By the time the well was "capped," it is estimated that over 4.9 million barrels of crude oil flowed into the ocean, killing marine life and destroying ... More >>

BP Defending Itself On Yet Another Pollution Front

Still playing defense​During this economic recovery, we bet one place is hiring: the BP legal department.Not only is the company struggling to defend a crush of lawsuits connected to the oil spill in the Gulf, but now it has to deal with a $10 billion lawsuit for allegedly making thousands of peop ... More >>

Pop Rocks: They're Baaaaack!

As with government, we get the reality entertainment we deserve​Tonight marks the return of MTV's Jersey Shore. Season 2 moves the juice-headed, monosyllabic cast from East Coast to South Beach (which is still technically the East Coast, but let's not worry about that right now). The gang's a ... More >>

BP Oil Spill: Tunes For Turtles This Weekend

Onward through the oil​Since the BP oil spill began 8,427 days ago, we've heard about how the catastrophe has endangered the welfare of birds, fishermen, tourist shops, and at least one British dickhead CEO, but there hasn't been much said about our society's most vulnerable -- Gulf Coas ... More >>

Alex Kava: Damaged

Our hero might survive a cat 5 hurricane just in time to face a murderer

Haynesville: A Nation's Hunt for Energy

The story of a town the oil industry tried to buy

Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski Says Ignore Those Tar Balls (All Seven Gallons Of Them)

Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, who despite what his windblown shirt seems to indicate is not a corpulent man, wants "to assure you that the small amount of tar balls were immediately removed."All 32 miles of Galveston beaches are pristine and clean, by Galveston standards.Of course, that "mayorBroll ... More >>

Tar Balls In Galveston: What's New?

Searching "tar balls," "Galveston" and "not uncommon" yields results​The tar balls in Galveston have gotten widespread attention, even though their number and effect is laughably small compared to other states and even though they probably traveled here by boat and not ocean currents, meaning more ... More >>

The Tarballs Cometh, To Galveston

Crystal Beach, via KHOU​As the Fourth of July weekend loomed, Galveston's visitors bureau put out a press release "reminding the public that Island beaches remain oil free and open for business this 4th of July holiday weekend....The U.S. Coast Guard confirms that the spill remains more than 200 ... More >>

Upcoming Events

​If you've always wanted to attend a Houston Chowhounds throwdown but haven't been in the past, the upcoming Ceviche Throwdown is a can't-miss occasion and for one spectacular reason: The Chowhounds are trying to rasie $5,000 to help struggling Gulf fishermen in the wake of the Deepwater Horiz ... More >>

Hurricanes And The Oil Spill: There's Good News And Bad News

Hurricanes would help and hurt in fighting the spill​As oil continues flowing into the Gulf the first tropical storm of the season, Blas, is rolling off the Southwest Pacific coast of Mexico and another tropical disturbance is rumbling a few hundred miles south of the gulf of Tehuantepec, we're st ... More >>

T. Boone Pickens Uses The Oil Spill To Advance His Agenda

Never let a catastrophe go to waste​T. Boone Pickens and the Pickens Plan.Ring any bells?The billionaire oilman who briefly dominated the media-scape more than a year ago with his TV commercials has been quietly working to get America off of foreign oil and hooked on natural gas. And now he' ... More >>

Brent Burns: The Gulf Oil Spill Has Found Its Truth-Telling Troubador

The BP oil spill produces its Dylan​The BP oil spill has found its Dylan. Its Phil Ochs. Its Weird Al Yankovic.Brent Burns has bequeathed upon a grateful nation is epic howl of protest, a trenchant, touching song called "If You Drill, Drill, Drill, Don't Spill, Spill, Spill." Lyrics not by Stephen ... More >>

Preacher Joseph Herrin: Gulf Oil Spill The Fault Of All Us Abortion-Loving Houstonians

I'm looking at YOU, Houston​BREAKING -- A new, undeniably correct theory on why there's a huge oil spill has just been announced. There's a spill, it seems, because God hates how we Houstonians just love abortion. Oh, and Joel Osteen's to blame, too.The theory is proposed by a preacher (and, we as ... More >>

Dine Out for The Gulf

​From June 10-12, restaurants from all over the U.S. will be participating in Dine Out for the Gulf. Participating restaurants will donate money to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The fund gives emergency grants to nonprofit organizations that ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Maybe The Gulf Oil Spill Isn't All Bad

​What a difference a three-day weekend makes. Okay, not really. The Gulf oil spill is still out of control, with BP attempting another half-assed Hail Mary this week and the relief wells that promise the best chance at diminishing the catastrophe still two months off. Depending on who you ask, ... More >>

Gulf Oil Spill: Stop Worrying, Industry Says In Galveston

These things happen...​Boy, you've really gotta hand it to the oil & gas industry folks. I mean, after all, we're just shy of 40 days since the start of BP's crude ooze in the Gulf, and already a consortium of energy elites has launched a propaganda blitz via America's WETLAND Foundation.And ... More >>

Pappas Files Lawsuit Against BP and Halliburton

The Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, engulfed in flames.Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard​It was only a matter of time before the Gulf fishing industry -- whose entire livelihood has been threatened by the Gulf oil leak -- struck back at the organizations responsible for causing the m ... More >>

Local Lawyers Unimpressed With Transocean's Bid To Limit Its Oil-Spill Exposure

Photo courtesy US Coast GuardPLEASE let the oil-spill litigation be heard here, Houston hotel owners pray​Transocean, the Houston company that owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon rig that is currently gushing huge amount of oil into the Gulf, is looking to limit the amount of damages they may ... More >>

Sierra Club Takes Its Oil-Spill Act To The Offshore Technology Conference

Photograph courtesy US NavyA hunka, hunka burnin' Gulf​Dressed in a black business suit with a fake BP badge on the lapel, Sierra Club spokeswoman Donna Hoffman pretended to be a BP company exec giving a press conference after an oil spill."I want to reassure everyone that the oil spill, outside o ... More >>

Fight The Oil Spill By Giving Your Dog A Haircut

Blow-drying after the cut is optional.​Until today, Hair Balls thought pet hair clippings were only good for making you sneeze, but apparently the hair is incredibly absorbent, which could come in handy in the case of, say, a gigantic freakin' oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pet Paradise, a ... More >>

The Gulf Oil Spill and the Seafood Industry

scmtngirl​With the Gulf oil spill now a full-on environmental disaster, seafood lovers are worried. Commercial and recreational fishing has been restricted in certain areas of the Gulf, and seafood supplier Louisiana Foods's Jim Gossen says he's already seen some increase in prices for Gulf oy ... More >>

The Gulf Oil Spill and the Seafood Industry

scmtngirl​With the Gulf oil spill now a full-on environmental disaster, seafood lovers are worried. Commercial and recreational fishing has been restricted in certain areas of the Gulf, and seafood supplier Louisiana Foods's Jim Gossen says he's already seen some increase in prices for Gulf oyster ... More >>