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The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Within days of the April 20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people, underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was capped on July 15, 2010 (87 days later), an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf.
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Oil is found to be leaking from the well. A homeland security report on critical infrastructure says the problem has "no near-term impact to regional or national crude oil or natural gas supplies."
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The coast guard announces the leak will affect the Gulf shore.
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The tube inserted into the leaking pipe captures much less oil than expected.
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A Deepwater Horizon worker claims that the oil rig was leaking several weeks before it exploded.
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An accident puts BP's oil cap out of action, allowing oil to flow unhindered for several hours.
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BP stops the flow of oil for the first time in 87 days, raising hopes that it could be sealed off for good. The company says it will have to monitor the cap for 48 hours before it can be sure it will hold.
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A Whale will not join the containment process after tests show that its skimming operations were "negligible" in comparison to the much smaller and more nimble skimmers.
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Flow Rate Technical Group reports that the well initially was dumping 62,000 barrels of oil per day initially after the spill and that it dwindled to 53,000 barrels when it was capped as the well was depleted. This means that 4.9 million barrels were dropped into the Gulf.
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Unified Area Command releases the report from the Operational Science Advisory Team (OSAT) regarding results of sampling and analyses of thousands of water column and sediment samples from the shoreline through deepwater areas.
