![]() And we just sort of sat there helplessly watching the oil come ashore and watching all of the attempts to contain it and corral it fail.ĮLLIOTT: There were dramatic images of oiled pelicans and dead dolphins. It was an unprecedented disaster, says David Muth, director of Gulf restoration for the National Wildlife Federation.ĭAVID MUTH: Those of us in the Gulf at the time - it was really frightening and harrowing because we didn't know what to expect or how long it could last. In all, more than three million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf, fouling more than 1,100 miles of shoreline stretching from Texas to Florida and leaving a trail of environmental and economic devastation. Early on, BP and federal officials downplayed how much oil was gushing into the Gulf unchecked for nearly three months as the company made repeated attempts to close the well. It ended on the rig.ĮLLIOTT: A series of safety failures, including a faulty blowout preventer, are to blame, according to federal investigations and court rulings over the last 10 years. LINDER: What happened on the Horizon didn't start on the rig. LEO LINDER: But even now 10 years later, the grief fills me up, and it's too fresh.ĮLLIOTT: Leo Linder was an engineer on the rig that night. We're taking the load - survivors clear.ĮLLIOTT: Eleven rig workers were never found. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Take it up back slowly. Nearby boats tried to rescue men from the water before Coast Guard helicopters got there. NPR's Debbie Elliott has this look back at the BP oil spill.ĭEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: In the dark of night on April 20, 2010, oil and gas erupted from a well nearly a mile deep, causing the Deepwater Horizon to explode and catch fire. Eleven rig workers were killed, and the explosion created the worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. ![]() It's been 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. ![]()
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