His daughters birthday was three days before the explosion. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, when an explosion damaged the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Below is a list of the strategies used to try to contain the spill. -Deepwater Horizon: Disaster in the Gulf, "I heard this awful hissing noise," the real Mike Williams said during a 60 Minutes interview, "and at the height of the hiss, a huge explosion. Karl Kleppinger Jr., 38, of Natchez, Miss. Here are some of the harrowing scenes from the largest oil spill in US history: A boat makes its way through crude oil April 28, 2010. Within a month of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, BP began running an aggressive and expansive local PR campaign, placing full-page advertisements in local newspapers around the Gulf coast . My baby boy will never know the love of his grandfather." cemetery April 6. He and his wife, Tracy, adopted a number of animals from the Natchez Humane Society, and the family asked that donations be made to that organization in his honor. Treavor recently wrote on his Facebook page: "Going to climb a tree in the a.m. and be where I feel closest to my Dad. 11 men lost. Anderson had been with the rig since it launched from a South Korean shipyard in 2001. Ironically, the booms were stuffed with pet and human hair, which work perfectly for absorbing oil. You know, this is it, I'm gonna die right here. Inside the Harrowing True Story of 'Deepwater Horizon' Survivor Mike Williams: 'It Haunts Me' Mike Williams says he was unable to watch scenes in the movie depicting the deaths of his fellow. He left behind a wife, Rhonda, and two children. 4:32 PM EDT, Fri April 10, 2015, Dale Burkeen (Philadelphia, Mississippi) , Karl Kleppinger Jr. (Natchez, Mississippi) , Dewey Revette (State Line, Mississippi) . BP supervisor on ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig dies at 69 5 Deepwater Horizon Survivors Who Escaped The Rig Before It Sank Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, A response vessel is seen along a line of emulsified oil between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site and the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, Monday, July 26, 2010. Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns and begins to collapse into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Chief Electronics Technician Mike Williams had just hung up from a call with his wife when he heard the engines revving, saw the lights glowing, and heard the alarms (in the movie, his wife sees his room get brighter on a video call but in real life he was already off the call with her). The girls understand that their father's body sank with the. Deepwater Horizon: Effect on Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles "I feel this God-awful burning all over me, and I'm thinkin' 'Am I on fire?' Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, A soaked oil boom and oil are seen as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson tours marshes impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Pass a Loutre, La., on Monday, May 24, 2010. Revette, 48, was chief driller on the oil rig. Cleanup and containment of a massive oil slick was still going on. The father of three grown daughters was planning to marry his fiance when he was killed. He died three days before his sixth wedding anniversary and 10 minutes after talking to his pregnant wife, Michelle Jones. Both cores were likely too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen gas to accelerate curing. Click through the gallery to learn more about each man. Two months after Jones death, his widow gave birth to their second son Maxwell Gordon, a name theyd decided on shortly before he left on his last hitch. Unlike most of the other families, Sheila Clark chose not to have an empty grave for Donald. Yes, the chief electronics technician on the Deepwater Horizon, Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg in the movie), jumped 10 stories into the Gulf of Mexico in order to escape the flames that had engulfed the rig. Tighe Barry, left, pours oil on Medea Benjamin, center, outside BP headquarters in Houston Monday, May 24, 2010, during a staged protest against the catastrophic oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. "I saw a blue spark and then the whole thing just went up in flames," said student Westley Bourg. Stephen Ray Curtis, 40, of Georgetown, La. Sunday, June 6, 2010. What We Learned from the BP Oil Disaster - NRDC Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill continued to move inland along several gulf states. At that point I actually got angry, I was mad at the doors. They determined that the oil was leaking out of the severed pipe attached to the top of the blowout preventer (BOP), which itself had failed to seal the well. The success of these procedures cleared the way for a bottom kill, considered to be the most likely means of permanently sealing the leak. Most failed. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf More Photos. What caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? On September 17 the bottom kill maneuver was successfully executed through the first relief well. hwy. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Birds were particularly vulnerable to the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. ", Burkeen, 37, was a crane operator on Deepwater Horizon for 10 years. Oil from the leaking Deep Horizon oil rig is seen swirling through the currents in the Gulf of Mexico, May 6, 2010. We felt the heat. Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, Jonesville, La. ", Yes. Donald Clark, 49, of Newellton, La. NOAA, other federal and state natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations responded to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to assist affected wildlife. He was married with two children. "That's OK," Adam said when they teased him, "because I love my momma. On the morning of April 12 after burning for about a day and a half the Deepwater Horizon sank. "We felt the shockwave. How did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affect birds? Oil spill Day 100: The 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, In this Sunday, May 23, 2010 photo provided by Greenpeace, crews try to clean up oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill along the Mississippi Delta, just east of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Yes. Photos: Animals Hurt By Gulf Oil Spill Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, A worker places a plastic bag containing oiled sand in a pile while cleaning Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., Monday, May 24, 2010. The Ella G, once an offshore supply barge, has been refitted to skim and separate oil from the BP spill, making for a more efficient way to remove petroleum from the Gulf waters.Costner's SkimmerSpecial Section: Disaster in the Gulf, Jimmy Buffett performs Sunday, July 11, 2010, in Gulf Shores, Ala. Out in the Gulf, he would listen to sermons that a friend had loaded onto his MP3 player. Search instead in Creative? Forensic analysis of the BOP completed the following year determined that a set of massive blades known as blind shear ramsdesigned to slice through the pipe carrying oilhad malfunctioned because the pipe had bent under the pressure of the rising gas and oil. Short portraits of 11 who died on the Deepwater Horizon I have my children . He was scheduled to leave the rig April 21, the day after the blast. 5,533 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images The rig was owned by the Swiss firm Transocean. On this day eight years ago, the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig experienced an uncontrollable blowout, causing an explosion that killed 11 people and set off the most devastating environmental disaster in US history. And I didn't hear anything. Banners with the images of the victims -- Donald Clark, Shane Roshto, Dewey Revette, Adam Weise, Wyatt Kemp, Dale Burkeen, Jason Anderson, Karl Kleppinger, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones and Blair . Once released by the fracture of the core, the natural gas traveled up the Deepwater rigs riser to the platform, where it ignited, killing 11 workers and injuring 17. He was survived by his wife, Sheila, and four children: James, Krystal, Donald Jr. and Tandrea. He was survived by his wife, Nancy; his daughter, Kala; and his son, Treavor. They were married for 20 years and had four children. 4 million barrels of oil flowed from the damaged Macondo well over an 87-day period, before it was finally capped on July . And I fell for what seemed like forever," he told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. His daughter, Lacy, was 5 when he died. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Herman Moffett of Hattiesburg, Miss., tries to unhook a crab he caught while fishing at Henderson Point in Bay St. Louis Miss. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon has affected wildlife throughout the Gulf of Mexico. When an attempt to employ a top kill, whereby drilling mud was pumped into the well to stanch the flow of oil, also failed, BP in early June turned to an apparatus called the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) cap. -NYTimes.com, No. Ten years later, BP oil spill continues to harm wildlifeespecially But the family works hard to make sure Stafford, 7, and Max know who their father was. Wildlife in the region is vulnerable to the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Jason was a toolpusher on the DWH and a member of the Midfield Community Church. That is a week in April in which I will always be reminded of tragedy and loss -- a reminder that will take place each and every year for the rest of my life.". Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos. The latter rendered his left arm nearly useless as he tried to help the crew get off the ship. Video: Journalist Dives Into Oil SpillFull Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, AP journalist Rich Matthews dives into oily water on June 7, 2010. Before it was capped three months later, approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore . Treavor and his father "had a special father-son bond," Treavor's mother, Sissy Curtis, wrote in a victim impact statement. Maddison was just 3 months old at the time. The rig capsized and sank on the morning of April 22, rupturing the riser, through which drilling mud had been injected in order to counteract the upward pressure of oil and natural gas. The addition of an ancillary collection system comprising several devices, also tapped into the BOP, increased the collection rate to approximately 25,000 barrels of oil a day. He was remembered by colleagues as a gentle, soft-spoken man with an excellent work ethic. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, In this aerial photo taken over the Gulf of Mexico, a boat and crew work in oil leaking from a pipeline at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, Monday, April 26, 2010. Robert. As explained in the movie, the negative test was done to determine whether the cement job to seal the well had worked. "I felt like I was carried off of that rig by God's righteous right hand" (NYTimes.com). All Rights Reserved. Bobby Jindal and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Members of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research and the International Bird Research Center hydrate a Northern Gannet bird, which was covered in oil and cleaned from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, at a cleaning facility in Fort Jackson, La., May 1, 2010. Though fitted loosely over the BOP and allowing some oil to escape, the cap enabled BP to siphon approximately 15,000 barrels of oil per day to a tanker. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. And I kicked and I swam, and I kicked and I swam as hard as I could until I remember not feeling anymore pain. Deepwater Horizon: Directed by Peter Berg. Curtis was a fan of NASCAR, especially driver Jimmy Johnson, and loved baseball and bow hunting for deer and turkey passions he tried to share with his son, Treavor. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much -WashingtonPost.com, Yes, but this happened the following morning, not the night of the disaster. Instead, engineers used ROVs (remote operated vehicles), which were tethered to the surface. Vessels operate in the area of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the Gulf of Mexico, July 13, 2010. Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, Rescue boats spray the fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Thursday, April 22, 2010. Dewey Revette, 48, of State Line, Mississippi. Of all the efforts by all the workers and volunteers responding now to the nation's worst offshore spill, the attempts to cleanse these animals and set them free tug hardest on the heartstrings. Eleven men were killed when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf More Photos, In this May, 23, 2010, photo provided by the Plaquemines Parish, La. Video: Journalist Dives Into Oil SpillFull Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill pools against the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Michelle has remarried. No. Donald Vidrine never testified in the federal hearings due to medical issues that his lawyer said were caused by the blowout. An assistant driller named Patrick Morgan spoke up first, "Our Father," he began. Court order granting partial summary judgment of liability for the spill, criminal plea agreement with BP Exploration & Production, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean Deepwater Inc., Transocean Holdings LLC, and Triton Asset Leasing GmbH (Transocean), Phase One Trial: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on Gross Negligence and Willful Misconduct, Phase Two Trial: Findings of Fact on Source Control and the Amount of Oil Spilled, Ruling on Maximum Dollars-Per-Barrel Penalty Amount, as Adjusted by the Penalty Inflation Act, $14.9 billion civil settlement with BP Exploration & Production. We heard it," said Bourg's friend Dustin King. Though the leak had slowed, it was estimated by a government-commissioned panel of scientists that 4,900,000 barrels of oil had already leaked into the gulf. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf More Photos, Louisiana Gov. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. After the disaster, he heard the hymn sung at the memorial services of his coworkers (LATimes.com). One of those killed on the rig was Karl Kleppinger, 38, of Natchez, Mississippi, who leaves behind a wife, Tracy, and a 17 year-old son, Aaron. The explosion "Our youngest child won't get that.". Ill float to an island somewhere. If I would ask him about it, he would express (that) he didnt want to talk about it. I don't hear anything. The island, home to hundreds of Brown Pelican nests as well at terns, gulls and Roseated Spoonbills has been impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Associated Press 0:00 0:59 Portraits of the 11 who died on the Deepwater Horizon: Jason Anderson, 35, Midfield, Texas. Though it's not in the movie, Caleb Holloway, portrayed by Dylan O'Brien, had the words of the Christian hymn written inside his hard hat. An official website of the United States government. Weise drove 10 hours to Louisiana every three weeks to work on the rig. The World Socialist Web Site spoke with the . "That was our first thought when all this happened," Sherri said a few months after the rig explosion. He was survived by his wife, Courtney, and two daughters, Kaylee and Maddison. Once in the water, Williams described his scramble to get away from the burning oil around him. Located appropriately 41 miles south of the Louisiana coast, the fatal fire reportedly started at about 10:00 p.m. CST. "I remember closin' my eyes and sayin' a prayer, asking God to tell my wife and little girl that daddy did everything he could, and if I survive this, it's for a reason. The massive fireball consumed the entire rig. -LATimes.com. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, President Barack Obama and Florida Gov. The 11 workers who died on the Deepwater Horizon A young heron sits dying amid oil splatterings underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, just inside the the coast of Lousiana, Sunday, May 23, 2010. The pipe, called a riser, had severed when the rig drifted after it lost power. In early July the LMRP cap was removed for several days so that a more permanent seal could be installed; this capping stack was in place by July 12. Kleppinger was a veteran of the first Gulf War and the father of one child. Revette had been a driller with Transocean for 29 years. They first used an ROV (remote operated vehicle) to figure out where the leak was coming from. He was deeply devoted to his wife, Natalie, and his son, Michael. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Small amounts of oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster have started coming ashore on the Florida and Alabama coast. I don't smell anything. Adam Weise, 24, Yorktown, Texas. Harrell was the rig's offshore installation manager (OIM). Settlements with families of workers killed in last year's Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion are running at $8 million to $9 million so far, a range sharply inflated by . Remembering The Deepwater Horizon Workers : NPR Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, A welder fabricates a portion of the BP subsea oil recovery system chamber at Wild Well Control, Inc. in Port Fourchon, La., April 26, 2010. With the damaged riser shorn from the LMRPthe top segment of the BOPthe cap was lowered into place. The Marine veteran was a member of the Georgetown Volunteer Fire Department and had also served as an officer with the Grant Parish police department. The Deepwater Horizon Crew was a group of workers who were on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While much of the oil has since been contained, the full impact of the spill on the environment is still largely unknown. Complete Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, The site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is busy with boats cleaning up the spill on the surface and boats and rigs working to collect the leaking oil and shut the leak down on Saturday, May 22, 2010. Although BP attempted to activate the rigs blowout preventer (BOP), a fail-safe mechanism designed to close the channel through which oil was drawn, the device malfunctioned. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in pictures, The Perils of Industry: 10 Notable Accidents and Catastrophes, https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill, National Ocean Service - Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Oil drilling in Gulf safer, but concerns linger, report says, Deepwater Horizon oil spill: debris and oil, Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010: path of the oil, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Deepwater Horizon: The True Story of Survivor Mike Williams - People To help battle the worst ecological disaster our nation has ever faced, millions of feet of containment boom were laid with the help of local fishermen. And I thought, 'Well, I musta burned up, because I don't feel anything. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf More Photos. 17 were injured. BATON ROUGE, La. Wildlife is vulnerable to the looming oil spill from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Gulf of Mexico. He says that hearing the hymn triggers traumatic memories of the catastrophe. Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP.On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away. Efforts in May to place a containment dome over the largest leak in the broken riser were thwarted by the buoyant action of gas hydratesgas molecules in an ice matrixformed by the reaction of natural gas and cold water. Curtis, 39, was an assistant driller on the Deepwater Horizon. In a victim impact statement to a judge filed in January 2013, Anderson's wife, Shelley, described his absence in their lives: "It is grueling for me to tuck my daughter in bed and read her a story while my son is crying in the other room because mommy can only do one thing at a time and daddy is not home to help. He was scheduled. From March 30 to April 20, tune in as we go back in time to the day of our country's largest marine oil spill . "The explosion literally rips the door from the hinges, hits, impacts me and takes me to the other side of the shop," Williams told 60 Minutes. Large amounts of oil on the shore at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama, June 12, 2010. "It's one of the largest sets ever constructed in the history of film," says star Mark Wahlberg, who portrays chief electronics technician Mike Williams. Bobby Jindal's staff reaches into thick oil on the surface of the northern regions of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La., June 15, 2010. Brown pelicans and laughing gulls were among the species most affected. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf More Photos, A dolphin swims near a marker for an oyster bed, right, in Bayou Pete, a tributary of Breton Sound off the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Photos: Animals Hurt By Gulf Oil Spill Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Hermit crabs struggle to cross a patch of oil from the the Deepwater Horizon spill on a barrier island near East Grand Terre Island, La, Sunday, June 6, 2010. Kleppinger left behind a son, Aaron. The Damon B. Bankston was a 262-foot work vessel that had been moored to the Horizon. The rig's sinking on April 22 began the discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. No, mainly for the fact that it was far too deep for divers. On April 20, 2010, off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig experienced a catastrophic equipment failure, igniting an enormous fireball that killed 11 people and could be seen as far as 40 miles away. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Dolphins swim near a boat carrying the Florida governor on a tour of oil skimming efforts in Pensacola Bay in Pensacola, Fla., Saturday, June 26, 2010. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, In this aerial photo taken Wednesday, April 21, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns.Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, In this aerial photo taken Wednesday, April 21, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns. As I got to the next door, it exploded. George Ross, a Briggs employee from Aberdeen, Scotland, watches a controlled burn of spilled oil July 10, 2010. The Coast Guard by sea and air planned to search overnight for 11 workers missing since a thunderous April 20 explosion rocked the oil drilling platform. After loading a life raft and getting it into the water, it also left without them. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., center, speaks at a press conference in Galliano, La., on May 24, 2010. The oil well over which it was positioned was located on the seabed 4,993 feet (1,522 metres) below the surface and extended approximately 18,000 feet (5,486 metres) into the rock. He was a floorhand and drove 10 hours every three weeks to work on the rig. A worker picks up blobs of oil with absorbent snare on Queen Bess Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay near the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La., June 4, 2010. The mobile offshore drilling platform was engulfed in flames after an explosion April 20. After the terrifying fiery explosion and ensuing anarchy as workers scrambled to escape, only 115 people were recovered out of the crew of 126. He was scheduled to leave the rig April 21. He was survived by his wife, Sherri, and two daughters, Andrea and Alicia. I dont need objects to remind me of him, she says. BP's team of scientists and engineers dubbed the "crisis team" came up with several plans to contain the spill. "The day of the explosion was Dale's wedding anniversary," his mother, Mary Burkeen, wrote in a victim impact statement. They're currently conducting a 15-year study. Yes. Yes. I could tell I was floatin' in oil, so I swam. "The rig sank on my birthday, and Dale's birthday was April 24th. Known on the rigs as Papa Bear, Manuels hunting buddies called him Gros Bebe or big baby. A senior drilling fluids specialist, the goateed Manuel worked for Houston-based M-I SWACO, which supplied materials to the Deepwater Horizon. Roshto was studying to be a medical radiologist. Curtis co-workers said his turkey call was so realistic, they half expected one of the birds to land on the rig. When did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happen? Discovery Company. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. In the weeks leading up to the disaster, Kemp hinted to his wife, Courtney, that there were problems on the rig. Also view an interview with the real Caleb Holloway, who is portrayed by Dylan O'Brien in the movie. Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Birds fly past oil booms that were placed in preparation of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig along the shoreline, Saturday, May 1, 2010, south of Venice, Louisiana. in English from Illinois State University in 2005. Workers construct a damn to keep oil, bottom left, from entering wetlands on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La., May 20, 2010. On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Local authorities closed the beaches on the island after oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion began to wash ashore. Propane tanks and other flammables became potential bombs on the decks. Photos Of The Real Deepwater Horizon Disaster Show How - Bustle Full Coverage: Disaster in the Gulf, Starfish are seen washed ashore on the Chandeleur Islands, home of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, is seen off the Southeastern coast of Louisiana, Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Dont worry about it. Burkeen was a crane operator on the Deepwater Horizon and had worked for Transocean for a decade before the disaster. Full Coverage: Disaster in the GulfMore Photos, One hundred days after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion, Cypress trees killed by saltwater intrusion are seen in wetlands near Houma, La., Wednesday, July 28, 2010. Tuesday, May 18, 2010. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Yes. Every time Adam left, his mother said he'd tell her, "I'm working for your retirement, Mom." They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Curtis was married and had two teenagers. Deepwater Horizon - Wikipedia In addition to the spill's heavy environmental toll, its financial one has currently cost BP $53.8 billion in cleanup, fines and settlements. The cause of death is undetermined. It was the largest oil rig in the world at the time and had been digging the deepest well in history, starting on the seabed at a depth of 5,000 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon rig, owned and operated by offshore-oil-drilling company Transocean and leased by oil company BP, was situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley in the continental shelf.