January 16, 2013 The Honorable Sarah Vance US District Court Judge Eastern District of Louisiana 500 Poydras

Street, Room C-255 New Orleans, LA 70130 Re: United States v. BP Exploration and Production, Inc

The Honorable Sarah Vance, August 10, 2012 is a date that remains in my memory because it is the date that Stephen, my husband and a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and I finally heard an apology from a lawyer representing BP. Two years and four months after we experienced this horrific tragedy. The lawyer for BP included this apology in a brief opening statement to a room full of many other lawyers and Stephen and I. To his surprise, my husband and I interrupted him to point out that this is the first and only personal communication that we had ever received from BP to date. Stephen added that after being ignored by BP for over two and half years that such an apology becomes very insincere. We then sat in that room and listened to lawyers from BP and Transocean try to point the finger at each other once again over who was responsible for this disaster. Lawyers who have no conceivable idea what a living hell we have experienced since this occurred. Lawyers, who when we asked to be fairly compensated for our losses, smirked and said, "Don't expect us to be like Santa Clause and hand you a bunch of gifts." We were shocked then and we continue to be shocked by the irresponsible and arrogant attitudes of BP and Transcoean. Stephen and I left that meeting the same way we began it, in emotional and financial distress, with no end in sight. And we are not the only ones left that continue to be ignored. That is why I am pleading with you to not allow BP to settle their criminal liability before they attend to all of the claims of injured or killed victims. They have ignored us for over two in a half years. Please don't allow them to continue to do so. First, I want to express that I have the utmost respect and sympathy for the family and friends of the eleven men whose lives were taken on April 20, 2010. I hope that my letter does not take away any support, love, and attention that they deserve. I am very fortunate to still be able to hug and kiss my husband every day. I cannot imagine what these families have gone through. I felt that it was also important to explain the impact that this has had on the survivors and their families.

Stephen's survival story is not one full of happiness and joy. He continues to struggle daily. More days than not, I have to remind myself to simply be happy that Stephen survived and to continue to hope that over time he will get better. I remind myself of this because the same man I married six months prior to the explosion is a dramatically different person than he is now. If you asked anyone that knew Stephen what he was like, they would say he is one of the happiest and most positive people they know. He always walked into the room telling a joke. He enjoyed people. He loved to invite friends over and cook for them. He was engaged in his life and hopeful for our future. For me, he was my source of optimism. I tend to be a cynic of life and he balanced that for me. And he was so loving and attentive to me. I could tell that he felt proud in his work and his ability to provide for his wife. We were excited for our future together. The day after the rig ended up exploding, Stephen was scheduled to return home. We had been approved for a home loan so we were going to spend his time home looking for a house to purchase. We were excited to be newlyweds putting down roots and saving up a nest egg so that we could have children. We have no choice but to put those plans on hold for an indefinite amount of time now. Since the explosion, Stephen spends most of his time in the house. He checks to make sure the doors are locked several times a day for fear of an intruder. He has almost completely withdrawn from speaking with friends and family. He is embarrassed that he cannot work. He did try to work again but was fired after a few months. For him, it is devastating to not be able to hold a job again. He has lost all sense of pride in himself. A news reporter once asked him what one of his most vivid memories of that horrible night was. He explained that one of his worst memories is how hard it was to wash the blood and skin off his hands after he helped move Buddy Trahan, another injured rig survivor. At night, it gets worse for him. He is constantly on edge at night. Regular noises are sources of panic for him. I have spent many nights reminding him that the refrigerator ice machine makes that sound all of the time and that it is not going to explode or that the neighbor's car door sound is just that and not someone breaking into our house. I believe that nights are more difficult for him because he was asleep when the first explosion on the Deepwater Horizon jolted him awake. When he heard the second explosion, he knew there was something very wrong. To this day, going to sleep is the most difficult thing for him to do. His fear of what will happen when he goes to sleep fills him with so much anxiety. He ends up spending most nights drinking to calm down so that he can eventually pass out. When he does sleep, he says that his dreams are so stressful that he chooses to stay awake some nights because he can't deal with it. At times, Stephen simply cannot cope with all of this, at all. These are the hardest times for me too because he becomes like a child that has to be watched for fear of him hurting himself. It is horrible to see him trapped in so much pain. The last time Stephen stopped taking his depression medication he began cutting and burning himself when he was alone. This was in October of last year. After seeking advice from

a therapist, I have learned that this is a way for people in pain to release stress when they have severe post traumatic stress disorder. I, sadly, have come to the realization that Stephen could end his life one day because of the amount of pain, loneliness, and anxiety he faces. He speaks about how much relief that would give him when he is having a really hard day or night. It is so much of a fear for me now that I have hidden our gun that we have in our house for safety. I have also come to the realization that him experiencing this explosion has such long lasting effects that he and I will be dealing with this for many years to come. Stephen needs so much more medical attention than he is getting and we do not have the money to help him get it. What a tragedy it would be for this explosion to take another life because BP, once again, is negligent by not responsibly taking care of these survivors' medical and financial needs. Over the past two and half years, we have watched BP lie to our country through endless commercials and news articles. We have watched our Olympic swimmers glide through BP logos and national football stadiums be filled with BP persuasion. Their public relations campaign is so efficient and strong. We know that it is working because month after month we receive emails congratulating us on finally ending this horrible chapter in our lives because that is the latest headline they read. When, in fact, we and other victims of this tragedy continue to be ignored. Please do not allow BP to settle their criminal liability, when after two and half years, it still continues to ignore the claims of injured victims. Shortly after the explosion, I painted some portraits of the Deepwater Horizon survivors, survivors' family members, and family members of those who lost their loved ones. I titled the ongoing series "Survivors" because I believe that all of us, including our families, are survivors of this tragedy at on some level or another. Creating these paintings was a therapeutic way for me to deal with the grief of this event. I have never been good with words so this was a way for me to speak to others about what is happening to us. I wanted to show them to you so that you could hopefully see the pain and anger and sadness that we all felt and that we continue to experience daily because of BP's negligence. Lastly, I want to thank you for giving us a chance to have some sense of a voice in what seems to be a helpless situation. At the very least, I feel like I was able to tell the truth of what is happening to us to at least one person of authority. Please do not allow BP to get away with not taking full responsibility for their actions. There are many of us still struggling greatly.

Sincerely, Sara Stone

Paula Walker was on the rig when it exploded. The painting is based on a news photo taken as she talks about her experience on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig. (AP photo by David J. Phillip)

Chris Jones, brother of Gordon Jones, who died on the Deepwater Horizon. This painting is based off a photo of Chris taken while testifying to Congress. I experienced his sadness as I sat in the same room with him. It was heartbreaking. (AP photo by Cliff Owen)

Stephen Stone, survivor of the Deepwater Horizon and my husband. This painting is based off a photo of him testifying before Congress. (Source unknown)

Sara Stone, wife of Stephen Stone. This painting is based on a photo taken while I was listening to Stephen testify in Congress. (AP photo by Cliff Owen)

Natalie Roshto, wife of Shane Roshto. This is a painting based on a photo of Natalie testifying about the death of her husband, Shane Roshto, on the Deepwater Horizon explosion during a hearing by the House Energy subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. (Photo by Matthew Hinton / The Times-Picayune)

Dan Barron, survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. This is a painting based off of a video of Dan explaining what happened the night of the explosion to Anderson Cooper.

Sheila Clark, widow of Donald Clark who was killed in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. This is a painting based on a photo of Sheila listening during a news conference on Capitol Hill. At this news conference, the family members of the 11 victims of the explosion called on the Senate to ensure that these oil companies show responsibility for the tragedy. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Image North America)