Therefore, a three-month-long oil spill was a risk considered acceptable and agreed upon in exchange for the ability to extract oil deep offshore. The company never bothered to develop response plans specific to this drilling site or at least to submit ones written for the Gulf, and the government never forced them to do so. Instead the government accepted lacking, inaccurate and out-of-date response plans. Communities facing the dangers of offshore drilling should remember this when the industry claims that drilling is safer than ever.
Today, offshore drilling is no safer than it was a decade ago and coastal communities deserve protection from another Deepwater Horizon -like disaster. This is the fifth piece in an Oceana series looking back at the repercussions of BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and highlighting notable moments in the 87 days that followed, as millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Early initial assessments were low—but satellite imagery revealed that there was much more oil than had been reported. The final tally showed that the spill dumped more than million gallons of oil. Oil continued to sink to the ocean floor for more than a year, a recent study shows. It changed the amounts of sediment collecting on the bottom of the sea for years afterward and choked them of oxygen.
Immediately after the spill, the 1, miles of contaminated coasts saw oil concentrations times higher than background levelsl even eight years later , concentrations were 10 times higher than before the spill. And In February of this year, a study showed that the footprint of the oil spread some 30 percent wider than previously estimated, potentially contaminating many more fish communities than previously thought. Studies are also showing that reef fish changed drastically after the spill; that fish absorbed some of the oil-sourced contaminants ; and that ecological communities throughout the water column, from tiny bacteria to deep sea corals to arthropods , could take decades to recover.
Read about how the effects of the spill are still reverberating in dolphins. Read about how pelican habitat on the Louisiana coast is being restored after the spill. The paradoxical effect of the spill is that scientists know more about the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the physics, ecology, and chemistry of oil spills, than they ever would have otherwise.
It was clear from the moment the spill began that there were many basic science questions that were unknown about this area of the world, like ocean currents and wind patterns, knowledge gaps that hindered the recovery process.
For example, no high-resolution map of the seafloor existed, information that would have helped scientists understand where the bottom-dwelling creatures of the Gulf might be affected. Driven by the disaster, federal scientists produced a map in In , it took days to get satellite images downloaded and processed; today the response time is about 20 minutes, he says.
And other knowledge gaps also engender risk. For example, a hurricane triggered underwater landslides at another drilling site in the Gulf. The mudslide broke the drilling rig away from the well, leaving it leaking hundreds of barrels a day. The reason the Deepwater Horizon well existed in the first place? Oil seeps from the floor of the Gulf naturally, in small volumes.
Th e phenomenon has been long known to people who lived and traveled along its marshy shores and coastlines. Hernan de Soto, a Spanish explorer who sailed through the Gulf in , used the gummy oil his sailors collected from the beaches to patch up his wooden ships.
Tribal communities gathered tar that caught in the tangled cordgrass of the sandy barrier islands and used it for art and to waterproof pots. BP admits using Photoshop to exaggerate oil spill command centre activity.
In an interview on ABC television he argues: "Would it be right to have legislation that independently targets BP rather than other companies? I don't think that would be right Would it be right to say that BP has to pay compensation for damages that were nothing to do directly with the spill?
I don't think that would be right". The tropical storm Bonnie forces BP to temporarily suspend drilling on its relief well. The 65 ships involved in the disaster response are leaving the site after the storm, which formed over the Bahamas, was predicated to reach the area by the weekend.
Tropical storm Bonnie forces BP to suspend relief well drilling. It is revealed that the Deepwater Horizon alarms were switched off at the time of the explosion to allow workers to sleep undisturbed. Deepwater Horizon alarms were switched off 'to help workers sleep'. As the storm passes, crews return to the site in order to finish work on relief wells before the hurricane season starts. Efforts to plug BP oil leak resume after storm passes. Tony Hayward to quit BP.
Part of the bill will be picked up by UK and US taxpayers. BP oil spill: taxpayers face clean-up costs. Greenpeace activists close 46 BP garages in central London in a move to force the company to become greener. Safety switches at the pumps were stolen in order to close them down, action that BP called "childish and irresponsible". BP petrol stations have pumps closed by Greenpeace activists. Tony Hayward points out that he will be too busy to attend a Senate hearing. He told journalists: "I have got a busy week [in the office]".
BP said it would send another representative to testify at the hearing. Tony Hayward's parting shot: 'I'm too busy to attend Senate hearing'". Shell refuses to rule out pursuing BP for damages. Shell could pursue BP for Gulf damages. BP offers one-off lump sum payments to claimants who waive their right to sue the company in an attempt to stem the tide of compensation claims arising from the Gulf oil spill.
BP offers one-off payouts to stem Gulf oil spill lawsuits. BP will attempt to stem the flow of oil with a 'static kill' in the next 24 hours. The procedure involves pumping heavy drilling mud and cement into the well. BP 'static kill' due in next 24 hours. A whistleblower group reveals scientists within the US Environmental Protection Agency raised concerns with superiors over a chemical dispersant approved for use in the Gulf.
BP sprayed almost 2m gallons of Corexit on the slick and at the leak site on the seabed. Obama administration's scientists admit alarm over chemicals. BP says the 'static kill' attempt to stop the oil leak has been successful, though more mud may still have to be pumped into the well to close it permanently. BP says 'static kill' has successfully plugged oil well. Oil spill damages legislation thwarted in Senate by Democrats. BP oil spill mostly cleaned up, says US.
The US government announces that the majority of oil from the BP spill has been cleaned up. The White House is accused of spinning a report about the amount of oil cleaned up from the Gulf Oil spill. Experts labelled their estimation that the vast majority of the oil had been removed as far too optimistic.
Gulf oil spill: White House accused of spinning report. BP pumps cement into blown-out oil well to seal it for good. BP suggests it may return for oil to the, recently leaking, Macondo well. Obama's administration responds by saying such a decision would have to be made by well licensing authorities, rather than BP. The exchange is the latest in an ongoing struggle between BP and the US government. BP risks Obama row by hinting it may return to stricken oil well.
BP suspends drilling of relief well to allow a tropical storm, believed to be heading for the Gulf of Mexico, to pass. Tropical storm forces BP to halt relief well drilling. It is revealed that BP has yet to update its oil spill emergency plan more than three months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.
Errors include the identification of the sea walrus as an animal in need of protection, despite there being none in the Gulf, and the listing of a wildlife expert who died four years before the plan was approved. BP yet to update emergency plan three months after Deepwater Horizon spill 16 August.
The Obama administration calls for environmental reviews for all new deepwater oil drilling. The announcement comes after a report revealed that BP received environmental exemptions based on outdated data. US government calls for new laws to halt repeat of deepwater oil spill. Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at the NOAA, disputes White House claims that the worst of the oil spill is over, claiming that three-quarters of the oil remains in the Gulf environment.
Under questioning at a Congress committee hearing, Lehr contradicted an earlier report in which he had stated that most of the oil had been cleaned up. US scientist retracts assurances over success of cleanup. BP's poor reputation, following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, forces it to pull out of a bid to drill in the Arctic. BP frozen out of Arctic oil drilling race.
BP's share price begins to rise after a positive investment report from Credit Suisse. BP announces it is a fortnight away from permanently sealing the Deepwater Horizon oil well leak. BP: Deepwater Horizon oil well will be permanently sealed 'in two weeks'. The world's smallest seahorse faces extinction following the BP oil spill. The Zoological Society of London's seahorse team warns that the destruction of so much of the dwarf seahorses' habitat could lead to a dangerous drop in population levels.
World's smallest seahorse faces extinction after BP oil spill. BP releases its own report into the Deepwater oil spill, in which it accepts some responsibility for the disaster, but claims that other companies must bear some of the blame. BP oil spill report — as it happened. The company recognises its failure to spot warning signs hours before the explosion. Gulf oil disaster: BP admits missing warning signs hours before blast.
BP falls out of a major marketing consultancy's list of the top brands. The fallout from the Deepwater Horizon spill led to BP being left off Interbrand's index for the first time in 11 years. BP falls out of index of top brands after Deepwater Horizon oil spill. BP finally seals off the ruptured well. Five months after Deepwater Horizon blew, a cement plug leaves it "effectively dead".
Five months after BP oil rig disaster, US government declares well 'dead'. The day after it is confirmed that the leaking well has been successfully and permanently plugged, shares in BP rise by 8p. Gulf oil spill: investors cheered as fears over BP's future dissipate. Scientists estimate that a total of 4. BP spill released 4. A Whitehouse commission appointed to investigate the spill criticises the government for under-estimating the spill's seriousness.
Barack Obama under fire for grossly underestimating Gulf oil spill. Dudley: the quiet American restoring oil firm's fortunes. White House report finds that government scientists were blocked by Obama administration from reporting the full extent of BP oil spill in the early stages. White House blocked and put spin on scientists' warnings. BP announces that its external safety ombudsman, put in place after the fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery in , will stop taking complaints after June BP plans to close its US safety watchdog.
Environmental groups express concern over the decision, while supporters of offshore drilling dismiss the announcement, arguing that the moratorium is effectively still in place due to continuing uncertainty over new drilling regulations. US drops oil drilling moratorium. BP and Halliburton knew of Gulf oil well cement flaws. Chair of US commission is scathing about the safety regime on board the Deepwater Horizon. The tests on the internal pressure in the well will take between six and 48 hours to establish whether the flow has been stopped or leaks remain elsewhere.
The developments may mark a turning point in efforts to stop the flow until more permanent measures, including the drilling of two relief wells, can be completed by the middle of next month. BP said this was the first time a sealing system of this type had been deployed at such depths or under such conditions.
It replaces a previous cap, fitted last month, which managed to contain only about half the escaping oil. Estimates put this at between 35,, barrels a day. The new cap, it is hoped, will be able to siphon the entire flow for collection on the surface. Former US coastguard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US government response, said measurements during the test would provide valuable information about the condition of the well below sea-level.
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