The prevention or reduction of coastline oiling was high on responders’ priorities immediately following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Five years later, much discussion continues about balancing benefits and risks regarding dispersants, and there are increased research efforts for alternatives or enhancements to existing dispersant systems.
Scientists at the Harte Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are leading a historic effort to study the spill’s impact from the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the people who live on its shores.
Late on the night of April 20, 2010, methane gas blew out from a wellhead a mile below the Gulf of Mexico. At a pressure 150 times greater than air at the Earth’s surface, the gas shot up through a drilling riser to the Deepwater Horizon oil platform and exploded, killing 11 workers.
Five years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and unleashed the largest marine oil spill in the nation’s history, we are still experiencing — yet only beginning to truly understand — its profound environmental and economic repercussions.
Five years after BP oil disaster, Gulf’s health remains under scrutiny
With the fifth anniversary of the spill today, everyone is asking me: Are we more prepared for the next spill? Perhaps the best answer to that question arrived a few weeks ago in a single email.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that occurred on April 20, 2010 not only triggered an unprecedented contamination of the northern Gulf of Mexico, but also yielded an unparalleled research effort to gauge the effects of the massive oil spill.
5 Years After Deepwater Horizon Disaster: Could It Happen Again? – April 20, 2015 Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, far from public sight but still under close scrutiny by scientists, federal agencies and the energy industry, a massive smear of oil sits at the bottom of the ocean like a dirty bath tub ring.…
On behalf of the GoMRI science community, the Research Board extends our thoughts and prayers to those who lost their lives on April 20, 2010 and their families and to those whose health and livelihoods were impacted.
Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, far from public sight but still under close scrutiny by scientists, federal agencies and the energy industry, a massive smear of oil sits at the bottom of the ocean like a dirty bath tub ring.