BP Oil Spill

Background
● The BP Oil Spill occured at Deepwater Horizon Oil on April 20, 2010 at the
BP-operated Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig site

● The largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry

● Characteristics of the spill:

○ 4.9 million barrels

○ aka 210,000,000 U.S. gallons
○ aka 780,000 cubic meters
Impact
● 11 people killed at the site of the explosion

● 143 oil spill exposure cases reported

● Thousands of birds and marine animals killed

● $22 billion loss in Gulf of Mexico tourism

● 130 lawsuits filed

● $1.6 billion in cleanup cost

● Unprecedented damage to environment

Images of Oil Spill
Environmental Impact
- Oil in water

- Marine life impacted

- Ecosystem destroyed in Gulf of Mexico for extended period of time

Steps to Resolve Issue
- Took a long time to clean up the spill

- People used bacteria to eat up the oil/ to clean up the ocean

- People created inventions to clean up the oil spill, like dish soap to wash
animals and remove the grease