The Deepwater Horizon disaster, 13 years ago, gushed more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and caused estimated losses to the commercial seafood industry at nearly $1 billion. It may happen again…
Leading up to the 13th anniversary (April 20) of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history — the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill — Oceana published a report which outlines how President Joe Biden can still deliver on this commitment of no new leases for offshore drilling, despite mandates in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The president’s campaign promise to prevent new offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters is yet to be fullfilled, and Oceana, which is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, fears that a disaster similar to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill may happen in the future.
“It’s as if we learned nothing from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana. “We know that when oil companies drill, they spill. It’s not a matter of if there will be another spill, but when. And those spills bring immediate economic and environmental devastation to our coastal communities.”
The 13-page report, “A Simple Solution: How President Biden Can Meet Offshore Clean Energy Goals and Prevent New Offshore Drilling” is clear: 13 years ago, in 2010, 200 million gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The explosion killed 11 workers and set off the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Toxic oil polluted 1,300 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline, from Texas to Florida. The disaster killed hundreds of thousands of animals, including birds, fish, and sea turtles. Commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf shut down for months. The BP Deepwater Horizon disaster devastated Gulf ecosystems, communities, and economies, and many of those impacts are still felt today.
A 2019 study showed the sea floor near the wellhead was still barren of the life typically found there. Many marine mammal populations will take decades to recover, if they fully recover at all. Bottlenose dolphins were some of the most severely impacted marine mammals. Experts estimate that it will take 30 to 50 years for some groups of dolphins to recover in the Gulf of Mexico.
The report now published finds that President Biden can still prevent new oil and gas leases in 2024 and beyond through his decision on the Five-Year Plan, and he can also exceed his goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind development by 2030. The report also finds that offshore drilling remains dirty and dangerous, with significant safety shortcomings that will not prevent another disaster like the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.