Today marks one year since the Deepwater oil rig exploded, leaking oil into the Gulf. More than half a million people say that BP owes them money, and many of them say the compensation process is unfair and is taking too long. Kenneth Feinberg is in charge of the $20 billion in compensation fund. He responds to Gulf residents who say the process isn't fair. 

A year after a an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig created a devastating oil spill in the region, how are fishing communities in the Gulf of Mexico dealing with the disaster? The BBC's Robyn Bresnahan visited the area to speak with people whose livelihood has been affected by the spill and the aftermath. She's witnessed everything from dead oysters to a resident so determined to increase awareness she walked to Washington D.C. from New Orleans on foot. Today we hear more from Bresnahan about her experiences in the Gulf. 

So after months of hyperbole and the worst kind of gloom and doom from everyone associated with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it's suddenly over.

The well in the Gulf of Mexico that spewed oil all summer is now permanently sealed. We're looking back at what we can learn from the event.

And we heard from you. Listeners and Facebook fans send in questions and we got answers from Robert Hernan, author of "This Borrowed Earth: Lessons from the Fifteen Worst Environmental Disasters Around the World," who also joined us on the air.

Earlier this morning, BP released the results of its own investigation of what caused the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico over the summer. The inquiry states that "no single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy," and heavily lays blame on BP's contractors, particularly Halliburton and Transocean.

The report is being seen both as an attempt at spin control by the beleaguered company, as well as their likely defense strategy in what could be years of litigation. Ian Urbina of our partner, The New York Times joins us with the latest.

BP has pledged to give $20 billion in compensation to victims of the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil gusher. So far, $300 million has been distributed, but many are concerned that some portion of this money has gone to people scamming the system.

The fate of hundreds of federal lawsuits stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been settled. The cases will go in front of a single judge in New Orleans. The issue of how to handle these suits is a contentious one and some are wondering if it's possible to hold a fair trial. Judge Carl J. Barbier has owned some oil industry bonds, meanwhile New Orleans residents are extremely angry about the spill. National legal correspondent for The New York Times, John Schwartz reports from New Orleans.

A federal report released yesterday says that 75 percent of the oil in the Gulf has either evaporated or been removed. However, local residents are skeptical and distrustful of the government and BP. There is also uncertainty surounding the environmental future of the region, which directly affects its economic future. New York Times correspondent, Campbell Robertson reports from New Orleans.

Attempts to permanently seal the ruptured BP oil rig are now well underway, but major concerns about the gusher's cleanup continue to swirl around the Gulf Coast. 

All it took was the threat of oil hitting the white beaches of Florida to reignite the political fortunes of Gov. Charlie Crist. Once counted out in the polls and basically chased out of his own party, the now independent Crist is the frontrunner.

We look ahead this week to birthdays, oil in the Gulf and unemployment numbers. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama turns 49; former White House correspondent Helen Thomas turns 90 on the same day. Besides birthdays, there will hopefully be another cause for celebration down on the Gulf coast: BP may have found a way to permanently seal the well that has gushed roughly 184 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Over 130,000 people have filed for damages due to the Gulf Oil Spill. They include shrimpers, realtors, deckhands, rig workers, restaurant owners and fish distributors from every Gulf State, and seven states beyond. Getting their checks from BP has been difficult. Only a third of the 130,000 claims against BP have been paid out. The rest are stuck in an whirlpool of red tape.

It's been 100 days since the oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. BP CEO Tony Hayward is being packed off to Russia for his bungling of the explosion's aftermath, but tainted managers aren't the only thing big oil is shipping overseas; they're also moving operations to countries with lax regulations.

Everyone heard the rumblings in the distance, but with the second-quarter earnings reports this morning, BP finally dropped the bomb: Tony Hayward is out. He'll step down from his post as BP's CEO this October. It's been reported that he’ll be sent to Russia to work on a BP joint venture there.

This week will mark 100 days since the Deepwater Horizon exploded, sending millions of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. BP's second quarter earnings are expected tomorrow, and the results will be telling about the oil company's future. What we do know: BP's future will not include Tony Hayward. The embattled chief executive officer agreed to step down yesterday, and will be replaced by Robert Dudley, BP's most senior American executive, who has been in charge of operations in the Gulf. We'll look ahead to the future of BP with Marcus Mabry, associate national editor for The New York Times; and Fernando Pizarro, a Washington correspondent for Univision.

Marine toxicologist Susan Shaw says the use of dispersants in the water will cause major environmental damage; headlines.

BP finally has some good news to report: A recently installed 75 ton cap has, for the first time in 85 days, stopped the flood of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a broken wellhead. While the damage to Gulf shores may have been relatively light thus far, anywhere between 93.5 and 184 million gallons of crude oil has likely contaminated those waters.

BP is still working to fix the Deepwater Horizon well, which has been leaking since April. The latest effort also hit a glitch when a new cap showed a leak. BP has now said that they have fixed that leak and can move ahead with a test to make sure that they can finally put an end to the gusher. Science reporter for The New York Times, Henry Fountain has been following the story. He explains how the new cap will work and how it will lead to a permanent solution.

Speaking this morning with the new face of BP, this fellow Darryl Willis, made me think about what public relations are all about. First of all let me be clear, I liked the guy. He certainly has a hard job dealing with claims, and his southern accent and easy going Gulf pace of speaking will certainly be a welcome change from Tony Hayward’s chilly British lilt.

His job is to deal with claims against BP and help people to get money owed them by the company for lost wages and the like. But the fact that he has worked for BP for 20 years, calls himself an executive, and appears in expensively produced commercials — reassuring people about BP’s sense of corporate responsibility — qualifies him as a company spokesperson. So I asked Willis about the story on the front page of The New York Times today. BP is developing an oil well in Alaska that pushes the envelope of technology and engineering.

The project involves ten miles of drilling that starts in deep water and goes sideways into a huge underground reservoir. Willis knew nothing about the story or the technological details. When asked what he would say to the people of Alaska to reassure them that this new well wouldn’t go awry, he responded with a corporate line about BP’s concern for safety. Then he insisted he was a real BP executive and lifelong Gulf resident not some random local hired to talk the talk with angry Gulf victims.

I wanted to ask him if we could give out his phone number so anyone listening could call him about their claims problems. I didn’t. Maybe I should have. Instead I asked if BP would hire some rugged looking mountain man with a shotgun to talk to Alaskans in the case of this new well blowing out and causing another catastrophe up north. He deflected by saying he was totally focused on the Gulf victims and that was his job everyday. In a sense he didn’t answer the question because it was obvious. That’s exactly what they would do. BP probably has any number of rugged Alaskans on the payroll ready to go if, God forbid, the worst happens up there.

Is still a major disaster. We asked you to tell us what the spill should be called and ideas ranged from "gusher" to "devastation" to "a complete disaster! Not natural!" On the show, New York Times columnist, Ben Zimmer had a lot to say about the significance of these words and the historical connotations behind some of the words like "gusher" and "rupture." But one thing was clear, the word "spill" is not adequately defining the leaking, gushing, spewing, messy oil in the Gulf.