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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Jessica Lass, NRDC, 310-434-2300, jlass@nrdc.org

NRDC and StoryCorps to Collect the Stories of Residents Affected by the Gulf Coast Oil Spill for Three Weeks in New Orleans and Mobile

NRDC selects StoryCorps to help record stories from Gulf Coast residents affected by the oil spill

WASHINGTON

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and StoryCorps announce a special effort to collect the stories of Gulf Coast residents affected by the April 2010 oil spill. The prominent environmental advocacy group and national nonprofit oral history organization will document the experiences of those living through the largest U.S. oil spill on record.

NRDC has selected StoryCorps to record interviews in two locations in the Gulf Coast region. StoryCorps' MobileBooth -- an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio -- will stop in New Orleans, LA from October 7, 2010 to October, 23, 2010. StoryCorps and NRDC will also host three off-site recording days in Mobile, AL from October 15, 2010 to October 17, 2010 and one off-site recording day in Buras, Louisiana at NRDC's Gulf Resource Center. Reservations for both cities will be available at 10am CT on September 23, 2010 and can be made by calling StoryCorps' 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting storycorps.org.

NRDC has been on the ground in Louisiana since the Gulf Coast oil spill began in April 2010 and continues to coordinate with local groups, monitor air quality and human health impacts, and document the oil spill's aftermath. NRDC's work in the Gulf dates back to Hurricane Katrina. When the storm hit New Orleans in 2005, NRDC worked closely with the hardest-hit communities to advocate for stronger health protections and to help residents safely clean up their homes and neighborhoods.

"Our collaboration with StoryCorps is about letting Gulf residents tell their own stories on their own terms," said Peter Lehner, executive director of NRDC. "We expect these stories will document the far-reaching impacts of the oil spill including lost livelihoods and family tradition and permanent damage to the natural resources of the Gulf."

"StoryCorps is pleased to have the opportunity to work with NRDC to record the stories of residents in the Gulf. Through these interviews, we hope to celebrate the small acts of courage, kindness and heroism committed by Americans every day," said StoryCorps Founder and President Dave Isay.

The public radio station in New Orleans WWNO will serve as a media partner for these recordings -- airing a selection of the local interviews recorded with StoryCorps and creating special programs around this project.

NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.

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