British Petroleum (BP)

It's been nearly eight months since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Since April, federal agencies have launched a series of separate investigations and this week the U.S. Chemical Safety Board held its first round of public hearings. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Jeff Brady about the continuing investigations into the causes of the BP oil spill.

There are at least five government investigations into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill. And all of the agencies have weaknesses that leave room for others to come in and argue that they could do a better job.

Experts say they're finding similarities between the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska on March 24, 1989, and the Gulf of Mexico spill earlier this year -- including mental health problems among the communities' residents.

Seven months after BP's oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, researchers say more than one-third of coastal residents are experiencing symptoms of trauma. Aaron Hofer, an unemployed shrimper and crab picker in Bayou La Batre, Ala., and his wife, Lena, are bouncing from relatives' houses, surviving on food stamps -- and trying to save their marriage.