In the wake of the Big Oozy, there were questions about whether the pollutants in the Gulf were bound to make coastal residents sick. Last month, a study formally confirmed that residents were reporting widespread symptoms. But there was still a lack of proof to tie them to the BP blowout. Well, one influential doctor is alleging that there might be a reason for that. Over at La. CoastPost, coastal scientist Len Bahr turns his concerns from barrier islands to corporate roadblocks. He recounts the stories of Dr. Mike Robichaux, who has witnessed Ochsner Health employees deny that illnesses of certain people close to the coast have anything to do with oil. But who, we are left wondering, is beind Ochsner?

A day after a huge oil sheen was reported south of Grand Isle, nothing has come into clearer focus. The Coast Guard is now classifying the mystery sheen as a mystery substance, but, as ever, the proof may come from what rolled up on the beach. In a statement, the Coast Guard said samples of the stuff creating a large sheen contained "only trace amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons, oil and grease," and was apparently the result of a lot of movement at the mouth of the Mississippi. 

Could it be? The phantom plume has come to exact revenge? The Coast Guard is investigating reports of a 100-mile oil slick near the site where the Deepwater Horizon went down, Rocky Kirstner with the Natural Resources Defense Council reports. Crews are apparently searching near the site of the Matterhorn well, which is north of the Macondo well site that spawned much environmental agony last year. There's been plenty of oil boo-boos since the Big Oozy, but none were reported to be anywhere near 100 miles in size.

The Big Oozy's path to the big screen featured animated productions, actors playing concerned citizens and even some financial help from BP. But the environmental disaster's turn on the red carpet got some serious help yesterday when a production company bought the rights to turn the epic New York Times account of the final hours aboard the Deepwater Horizon into a movie. The project is being helmed by a trifecta of production companies that execs are doubtless hoping will put their unique stamp on the project.

Thanks to a survey released by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade yesterday, it's no secret that living around sites with large amounts of oil exposure can take a number on residents' long-term health. But even before the big catastrophe last year, Louisiana residents have been living with constant exposure, and big accidents. Facing South takes a look at a particular hotspot over in Norco, where starting a lawnmower once popped a pipeline. And she doesn't even mention the little accident in the 80s.

UPTOWN - A local environmental group released one of the first independent studies today on the impacts of the BP oil catastrophe. The Louisiana Bucket Bridage's report is nearly the only one that focuses solely on the health and economic impacts of last year's Big Oozy.

Earlier this month, oil spill claims overlord Ken Feinberg noted that payments to people affected by the spill were based on the expectation that the Gulf would be fully recovered by 2012. There was instant outrage, and the assumption that he was wrong. But the one-two punch of Southern time and academic time meant there was a little lag in someone coming forward to use, y'know, science to refute him. But, over the weekend, we got one. University of Georgia Professor Samantha Joye reported  that on a recent trip to the seafloor in a submarine, she found more oil than expected.

The rare seafood that is not revered in these parts, Rangia clams taste like mud and used to get dredged from Lake Pontchartrain up to use as fill material for roads. That is, until the dredging messed up the ecosystem. Oops! In any case, in the wake of the Big Oozy, the clams are getting a second act as specimen. Researchers at Southeastern Louisiana University will study the clams to see if they're effective at cleaning oil from water. Looking at clams as a cleanup tool represents a "complete shift in thinking" in using the lifeform a researcher told the Advocate of Baton Rogue.

When oil started leaking unchecked into the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed only a matter of time before new kinds of creatures started popping up around Houma. WWL-TV reported one such siting today. But, it was a false alarm, as the cause of the deformity turned out to be a subtle combination of Disney and nonviolent resistance. Houma resident Jennifer Bullard started swimming dressed as a mermaid in the local YMCA pool to draw attention to the Big Oozy. But the costume has only emboldened her to be part of a world wholly different from her own: Las Vegas.

The Big Oozy hurt our seafood and our wallets, but there's less talk about how it's hurting our health. Nevertheless, there's an entire community of people, flying just under the radar, that are trying to alert the Gulf Coast communities about their vulnerability to illness for years to come. At 3 p.m. today, a sampling of those people will participate in a panel  at the First Unitarian Church on S. Claiborne Ave. The presence of lead speaker Wilma Subra, a chemist who's been warning people about the hazards of oil in the environment for 30 years, is enough of a reson to go on its own. The discussion will be streaming online here.