Gulf Oil Spill

I've been avoiding learning too much about the Gulf oil spill, just because it is so incredibly depressing. I finally did some research for a work newsletter. Here's some info and a few sources about the basics...

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico saddens and enrages me. The oil rig explosion was responsible for 11 deaths. Now the oil spill is damaging wildlife, ecosystems, and local economies and fishing industries – with no end in sight. Participants are blaming each other for the failure. Let’s take a look at some of the key players and facts surrounding this tragedy.

Companies:

BP Oil – Leases the oil well

Transocean Ltd. – Built and operated the oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, that was leased to BP

Halliburton Co – Poured the cement at the wellhead

Cameron International Corporation – Supplied blowout preventers that allegedly failed

Brief timeline:

4/20 – Explosion and fire on the oil rig

4/22 – The oil rig sinks, oil slick is visible

4/23 – Search for 11 missing workers ends

4/25 – Coast Guard estimates that the sunken well is leaking 1,000 barrels of crude oil a day

4/28 – Controlled burn on the oil slick to remove it from the Gulf. New estimated flow of oil is 5,000 barrels per day (210,000 gallons per day)

5/5-8 – BP tries to use a use a containment chamber to cap the oil leaks. Containment dome fails.

5/6 – Oil from spill makes it to shore at New Harbor Island, LA

5/7 – Fishing ban is expanded and extended to 5/17/10, efforts made to contain spill circumference

5/17 – BP reports that they are now capturing 20% of the 210,000 GPD flow and funneling it into a tanker ship

Sources:

NOLA, NOLA, Reuters, Newsweek, NPR

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