DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL BY MUHAMAD AFIG

In the wake of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 2010. Federal agencies, state and local government agencies, and responsible parties faced an unprecedented challenge. An oil discharge continued for 87 days, resulting in the largest ever oil spill in United State waters. 11 workers are dead in this disaster.

Area of oil spill

Oil spill of this size was estimated at approximately 206 million gallons (4.9 million barrels) are occurred in United State waters.The incident tested the public and private response capabilities, as well as the legal framework of liability and compensation under the Oil Pollution Act. The oil spill cleanup, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and compensation processes continue today.

Oil Spill Response Activities

The uncontrolled discharge from the Deepwater Horizon continued for approximately 87 days until, following several attempts, responders gained control of the release on July 15, 2010. The response involved multiple agencies. During the height of operations in the summer of 2010, response personnel levels reached 47,000, and response vessel numbers approached 7,000;4 and  the maximum extent of shoreline oiling involved almost 1,100 miles of shoreline.

Recipients	Purpose	Amount of Payment ($ millions)
Federal government	Reimbursements for oil spill response costs	705
	Behavioral health	10
	Contributions	20
States	Reimbursements for response costs and other claims		738
	Tourism promotion		179
	Seafood marketing		49
	Seafood testing		25
	Behavioral health		42
	Contributions		5
Individuals or businesses	Economic claims		12253
TOTAL			14028

Selected BP Payments and Commitments Related to the 2010 Oil Spill

As of March 31, 2014

Notes: More information about the above payments is available at http://www.bpgulfupdate.com.

Cleanup

On 15 April 2014, BP claimed that cleanup along the coast was substantially complete, but the United States Coast Guard responded that a lot of work remained. The details of the cleanup operations are unclear.The State of Louisiana was funded by BP to do regular testing of fish, shellfish, water, and sand. Initial testing regularly showed detectible levels of Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, a chemical used in the clean up. Testing over the past year reported by GulfSource.org  for the pollutants tested have not produced results.

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