Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico: Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 1: Water Quality, Sediments, Sediment Contaminants, Oil and Gas Seeps, Coastal Habitats, Offshore Plankton and Benthos, and Shellfish.

Abstract

The Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo well began on April 20, 2010. Oil flowed into the Gulf for 87 days until the well was capped on July 15, 2010, and declared sealed on September 19, 2010. The United States (USA) Government initially estimated that a total oil discharge into the Gulf of 4.9 million barrels (210 million U.S. gallons) resulted from the spill; however, the estimate was challenged in litigation, reduced to 3.19 million barrels by a trial court, and remains in dispute. A massive cleanup, restoration, and research program followed and continues to the present, mostly funded by BP Exploration & Production Inc. (BP).