History of the Problem
We all need clean water. People need it to grow crops and to operate factories, and for drinking and recreation. Fish and wildlife depend on it to survive.
Water Pollution
Water pollution FAQ
More information on health effects of microrganisms Where does water pollution come from?
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill , the BP oil disaster , the Gulf of Mexico oil spill , and the Macondo blowout ) was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP -operated Macondo Prospect , considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, being 8% larger than the earlier Ixtoc I oil spill . Following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig , which claimed 11 lives, [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] a sea-floor oil gusher flowed unabated for three months in 2010. The gushing wellhead was not capped until after 87 days, on 15 July 2010. [ 7 ] [ 9 ] The total discharge is estimated at 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m 3 ). [ 3 ]
BP CEO Tony Hayward can continue to play the blame game and avoid public appearances where he would have to address what has now topped the EXXON Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989 to become the biggest oil spill in US history American history, but there is no denying that oil continues to pour out of BP’s Deepwater Horizon at approximately 60,000 barrels a day, affecting everything from the ecosystem (endangered blue fin tuna and pelicans just to name two out of many), to people (residents of Louisiana and New Orleans, and people whose livelihood depends on the sea).
