The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill which occurred on April 20, 2010 has become one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, surpassing even the Exxon Valdez in the amount of oil spilled, ecological and monetary damage caused and lives left in turmoil. This timeline of events gives a day by day breakdown of events surrounding this disaster. This timeline is a continuation of events covering dates between May 1, 2010 and May 10, 2010. View the original article: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Timeline: 4-20-2010 to 4-30-2010.
Timeline: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, May 1st - May 10th
May 1, 2010: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, named U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen the National Incident Commander for the Obama Administration's response. Thad Allen has served previously in a crisis situation affecting the Gulf Coast as the principal federal officer for Hurricane Katrina.
May 2, 1010: U.S. President Barrack Obama made his first visit to the Gulf Coast to survey the damage and clean up efforts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill first hand. BP began drilling a relief well near the site of the Deepwater Horizon; Estimated time to completion was three months. In a press release from BP, Tony Hayward (BP Group Chief Executive) stated that "BP will do anything and everything we can to stop the leak, attack the spill off shore, and protect the shorelines of the Gulf Coast."
May 3, 2010: Nalco Holding Company, maker of the chemical dispersant Corexit that was used to deal with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, saw shares rise 18% in one day after it was announced that their product was being used in oil spill mitigation and cleanup. Worth noting is that the use of this highly toxic chemical is banned in U.K.
May 4, 2010: New information emerges that suggests that Haliburton Oil, the Texas company that once was led by former Vice President Dick Cheney, may have had a significant role to play in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that occurred on April 20, 2010. Staff from Haliburton Oil were present on the Deepwater Horizon earlier that day performing maintenance on the well.
May 5, 2010: BP announced that it had stopped the flow from one of three leak points with a capping valve, but that oil continued to gush from the damaged Deepwater Horizon at the same rate of flow. A barge began towing a 98-ton containment dome to the site of the leak. BP devoted $25 million in grants each to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to help those states with oil spill clean up efforts and damage mitigation.
May 6, 2010: Oil reaches the shores of the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast.
May 7, 2010: BP attempted to lower the containment dome over the leak without success. The federal fishing ban in the Gulf of Mexico was expanded to include approximately 4.5% of gulf waters. BP announced that it had recovered a mere 30,000 barrels of oil-water mix from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
May 8, 2010: BP reports that, according to its own independent investigation, the blast on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010 was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column.
May 9, 2010: An estimated 3.5 million gallons have gushed from the Deepwater Horizon since the oil spill began on April 20, 2010. Speculations began that the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill would outpace the Exxon Valdez in quantity of oil spilled before the end of May. With the failure of the containment dome on May 7, 2010, BP proposes a new method of containment called "junk shot". This method would force shredded garbage into the preventer at very high pressures in an attempt to clog the preventer and stop the oil leak.
May 10, 2010: Approximately 1,400 naval personnel and 16 modular skimmers were deployed to Gulfport, MS to support skimming and salvage operations being conducted on the Gulf Coast.
References on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Brown, Tom. Reuters. "Boundaries of Fishing Ban Expand in Gulf of Mexico." (May 7, 2010) Accessed: June 22, 2010.
Hayward, Tony. British Petroleum. BP Press Release from Tony Hayward. (May 2, 2010) Accessed: June 22, 2010.
Helmore, Edward. The First Post. "Haliburton Implicated in BP's Deepwater Oil Spill." (May 4, 2010) Accessed: June 30, 2010.
Marine Log. Thad Allen Named National Incident Commander for Deepwater Horizon Spill (May 1, 2010) Accessed: June 22, 2010.
Q13 Fox News. "BP May Use Trash to Contain Oil Leak in Gulf." (May 9, 2010) Accessed: June 22, 2010.
Amber Hunter - Amber Hunter is a graduate of SMU Richardson's Networking Technologies Program. She is A+ Certified, Net+ Certified, and MCSA Certified. ...
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