Qualla: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Introduction

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Public domain. Scientists call it a dirty blizzard. In the months after the Deepwater Horizon wellhead ruptured on April 20, 2010, oil in the water column began clumping around suspended sediments and falling to the ocean floor in what researchers described as an underwater rain of oily particles. The crude did not simply float on the surface and wash ashore. It infiltrated every layer of the Gulf of Mexico, from the deep-sea sediments to the zooplankton at the base of the food chain. Estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous record-holder, the Ixtoc I spill of 1979, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill became the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and one of the largest environmental disasters in world history.

Image: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health | Public domain

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Eighty-Seven Days of Crude

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit kris krüg, CC BY-SA 2.0. For nearly three months, oil gushed from the broken Macondo Prospect wellhead on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. BP initially attempted to close the blowout preventer valves using remotely operated underwater vehicles, but every effort failed. The fundamental strategies were con...

Image: kris krüg | CC BY-SA 2.0

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Corexit Experiment

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY 3.0. The spill became notable not just for the volume of oil released, but for the unprecedented quantities of chemical dispersant used to combat it. Corexit, the primary dispersant applied, was deployed in methods described as purely experimental, including injection directly at the ...

Image: Infrogmation of New Orleans | CC BY 3.0

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: A Gulf Ecosystem Unraveled

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Louisiana GOHSEP, CC BY-SA 2.0. The spill area hosted 8,332 species, including more than 1,270 fish species, 218 bird species, 4 sea turtle species, and 29 marine mammal species. The damage to this ecosystem was staggering and long-lasting. Researchers estimated that over one million coastal birds died as a dir...

Image: Louisiana GOHSEP | CC BY-SA 2.0

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Human Toll Beyond the Rig

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0. The disaster did not end at the waterline. By June 2010, 143 spill-exposure cases had been reported in Louisiana alone, most involving cleanup workers. A Louisiana physician called it the biggest public health crisis from chemical poisoning in the country's history. Cleanup worke...

Image: Frank Vincentz | CC BY-SA 3.0

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Accountability at the Bottom of the Sea

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Geoff Livingston, CC BY-SA 2.0. In September 2014, US District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that BP had acted with gross negligence and willful misconduct, describing the company's actions as reckless and driven primarily by a desire to save time and money rather than ensuring the well was secure. He apportioned 67...

Image: Geoff Livingston | CC BY-SA 2.0