BP Oil Spill
2010
What happened?
- In the BP Oil Spill, more than 200 million gallons of oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
- 16,000 total miles of beaches and other water sources have been affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
- Over 8,000 animals were killed 6 months after the spill, including many that were already on the endangered species list.
- BP is responsible for close to $40 billion in fines, cleanup costs, and settlements as a result of the oil spill in 2010, with an additional $16 billion due to the Clean Water Act.
- The initial oil rig explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others.
How we are still affected:
Because there was so much oil spilled out, 5 years later we still have not gotten all of the oil out of the water and it is still killing off species.