Ten years after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the biggest oil spill in US history, coastal communities and ecosystems are still grappling with its effects. Explosions at the drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana on April 20th, 2010, released an astonishing 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over almost three months. The muck washed up onto more than 1,300 miles of shoreline spanning from Texas to Florida. Eleven people lost their lives on the rig. Tens of thousands of birds, sea turtles, marine mammals, and fish died in the aftermath.
The crisis began before The Verge was founded in 2011, but scientists are still discovering the extent of the damage done. The toxic extent of the spill could have been 30 percent larger than previously thought because of “invisible oil” that satellites couldn’t detect, a February 2020 study found. As climate change pushes tides higher onto low-lying shorelines, the BP spill eroded land on Louisiana’s already jeopardized coast, a 2016 study revealed.
BP’s culpability in the crisis has also unfolded over time. The oil giant was found guilty of “gross negligence” leading to the catastrophic spill. As a result, it has had to pay $65 billion in claims and clean-up costs.
See our coverage of the Deepwater Horizon fallout here.
Offshore drilling has dug itself a deeper hole since Deepwater Horizon
Ten years after Deepwater Horizon, offshore drilling creeps farther away from shore
New Deepwater Horizon data reveals invisible oil that satellites may have missed
New techniques could help track oil during future spills
This was the decade climate change slapped us in the face
Climate change isn’t just something to worry about in the future — it’s here now
Nov 23, 2016Alessandra Potenza
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused widespread land erosion in Louisiana
‘The land that’s lost basically is lost’
BP estimates it will pay an additional $2.5 billion for the Deepwater Horizon debacle
BP has paid more than $60 billion already
Jul 2, 2015Arielle Duhaime-Ross
BP will pay states $18.7 billion for 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
The payments will take place over 18 years
Mar 24, 2014Arielle Duhaime-Ross
Damning study blames BP oil spill for heart defects in fish
Scientists find evidence of Deepwater Horizon's potentially lethal effect on commercial fish species
BP wins new US oil contracts four years after Deepwater Horizon disaster
Oil giant wins 24 bids to begin exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, just days after authorities lifted a year-long ban
Halliburton admits to destroying evidence in wake of Gulf oil spill
Houston-based company agrees to pay $200,000 for the worst offshore oil spill in US history