Remembrance Days
Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion, April 20, 2010 (credit: Reuters)
The oil drilling platform known as the Deepwater Horizon, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. A gusher of crude oil erupted from the ocean floor and engulfed the structure when it caught fire. The oil leak, caused by faulty safety valves, was finally capped by British Petroleum and their drilling partners 87 days later.
The losses of human life, impacts to wildlife habitat and commercial fisheries, tourism, and environmental quality was widespread. The National Ocean Service program, part of NOAA, is still recording impacts to wildlife more than 10 years after the massive accident occurred in the Gulf.
Environmental restoration programs continue but it is worth remembering the consequences of such a major environmental and economic apocalypse. Such a catastrophe should be a daily reminder not just on an Earth Day.
WHB