BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster by the Numbers
Number 1 largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
11 people were killed in the explosion.
About 200 million gallons of oil was released into the Gulf of Mexico
About 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants were used as part of the response effort.
Oil flowed into the Gulf for 87 days before the spill was contained
At times, the oil plume was up to 650 feet thick and over a mile wide
The Deepwater Horizon spill was 18 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, previously the largest in U.S. history.
At least 1,300 miles of shoreline was oiled.
Killed tens of thousands of birds, sea turtles, dolphins and fish
After the spill a Louisiana dolphin population had higher deaths were 5 times more likely to have lung disease
Deep-sea corals can live for 100s or 1,000s of years. After the spill some deep-sea coral colonies were damaged, sick and stressed. Some entire coral colonies were dead.
At the height of the spill, 36% of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico were closed to fishing, an area of 86,985 square miles.