15 Years Later: Deepwater Horizon Still Haunts Louisiana’s Shores

It was 15 years ago, on April 20th, 2010, that the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded in the Gulf and sent over 130 million gallons of crude oil across the waters and shores of Louisiana.

15 years on, we take a look back at the tragedy that was the Deepwater Horizon explosion to see how we here in Louisiana have been affected, what has changed, and what hasn't changed.

15 Years Ago, Deepwater Horizon Claimed 11 Lives

Deepwater Horizon was an oil drilling platform owned and operated by Transocean and BP from 2001 until its demise in 2010.

On April 20th, 2010, a surge of natural methane gas was released from an oil well on the ocean floor. The well had been sealed with concrete, but when the gas was released, the pressure was strong enough to blast through the concrete core.

The highly flammable methane gas made its way up and into the engines powering the drilling rig, which caused the gas to ignite, and the resulting explosion would become international headline news.

As a result of the explosion, 11 employees lost their lives, while countless others were injured.

Victims of A Manmade Natural Disaster

The 11 killed in the explosion would only be the first victims of the mess; several cleanup workers have experienced health defects and, in some cases, have even lost their lives. These health risks were acknowledged by BP in 2012 when they paid out approximately $1,300 to each worker who fell ill after the cleanup efforts.

Possibly one of the biggest victims of the spill was Mother Nature herself; countless birds, turtles, fish, and all sorts of wildlife fell victim to gallons and gallons of crude oil.

Fingers have been pointed all around as to who is really at fault for the explosion. In fact, early research into the incident seemed puzzling as every inspection conducted of the Deepwater Horizon showed that the mining rig was working up to code, minus a few violations, but none of the inspections ever saw what was coming.

Who Was Blamed For Deepwater Horizon?

The courts found several companies and people to blame, including a manager who had not seen the warning signs on monitors because he had stepped out to smoke.

Halliburton was partially blamed; they had been the ones to seal the well using cement. The cement used by Halliburton was too weak to hold back the release of gas; in fact, this problem was already known.

Reports from Wikileaks showed that an almost identical situation happened just a few years before at a BP rig, but it had been covered up. The main issue came down to the fact that Halliburton had used a weak concrete mixture so it would cure faster.

In the end, there has been no end yet. According to the Financial Times said that the legal battle afterwards would be so massive they could only describe it as "novel."

By 2014, it was decided that BP was mostly responsible, while Transocean was only 30% responsible, and Halliburton was only 3% at fault. Transocean would pay between $1.4 billion, and Halliburton was ordered to pay $1.1 billion.

BP was ordered to pay $2.4 billion, with possible additional fines that could've added up to $20 billion total.

15 Years After Deepwater Horizon

The Deepwater Horizon tragedy is what experts refer to as an 'ecocide', which is defined as the unnatural destruction of the environment by humans.

Families are still suing BP on behalf of loved ones who were affected by the cleanup. Currently, Downs Law Group is representing over 100 people, fighting BP in court, hoping to see compensation for the health problems caused by BP's cleanup effort.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, thousands of local wildlife died at the hands of the Deepwater disaster, and countless natural habitats were destroyed, leaving the surviving wildlife with very few places to go.

While Louisiana tries to recover its Gulf shores, BP has made a new oil discovery off the shores of Louisiana. This tragedy needs to be a lesson to learn from; lives were lost, and countless ecosystems were destroyed because of negligence and a cover-up by BP. The public opinion of BP has never fully recovered, and at the time of the spill, Americans were outraged over the poor response from BP, more so than they we upset with the response to Hurricane Katrina.