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KF5JRV > TODAY 20.04.24 10:31l 36 Lines 2645 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 20044_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Apr 20
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<N2NOV<K5DAT<KF5JRV
Sent: 240420/0914Z 20044@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.23
April 20, 2010: An explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 mil
es off the Louisiana coast, kills 11 people and triggers the largest offshore oil spill in American history. The rig had been i
n the final phases of drilling an exploratory well for BP, the British oil giant. By the time the well was capped three months
later, an estimated 4.9 million barrels (or around 206 million gallons) of crude oil had poured into the Gulf.
The disaster began when a surge of natural gas from the well shot up a riser pipe to the rig’s platform, where it set off a ser
ies of explosions and a massive blaze. Of the 126 people on board the nearly 400-foot-long Deepwater Horizon, 11 workers perish
ed and 17 others were seriously injured. The fire burned for more than a day before the Deepwater Horizon, constructed for $350
million in 2001, sank on April 22 in some 5,000 feet of water.
Before evacuating the Deepwater Horizon, crew members tried unsuccessfully to activate a safety device called a blowout prevent
er, which was designed to shut off the flow of oil from the well in an emergency. Over the next three months, a variety of tech
niques were tried in an effort to plug the hemorrhaging well, which was spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf each
day. Finally, on July 15, BP announced the well had been temporarily capped, and on September 19, after cement was injected int
o the well to permanently seal it, the federal government declared the well dead. By that point, however, oil from the spill ha
d reached coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where it would inflict a heavy toll on the region’s eco
nomy, particularly the fishing and tourism industries, and wildlife. Scientists say the full extent of the environmental damage
could take decades to assess.
In January 2011, a national investigative commission released a report concluding the Deepwater Horizon disaster was “foreseeab
le and preventableö and the result of “human error, engineering mistakes and management failures,ö along with ineffective gover
nment regulation. In November 2012, BP agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges brought against it by the U.S. Justice Dep
artment, and pay $4.5 billion in fines. Additionally, the Justice Department charged two BP managers who supervised testing on
the well with manslaughter, and another company executive with making false statements about the size of the spill. In July 201
5, BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion in fines.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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