Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Oil Spill began following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. A sea-floor oil gusher flowed for 87 days, until it was capped on July 15, 2010. Eleven people went missing and were never found. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil was spilt. It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. BP who operated the rig, was fined tens of billions of dollars over the coming years and pleaded guilty to eleven counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress.