Snapshot of the disaster
Excerpt from Wikipedia (taken last on 19 July 2010): The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster or the Macondo blowout) is a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. Some estimates placed it by late May or early June 2010, as among the largest oil spills in history with hundreds of millions of gallons spilled to date. The spill stems from a sea floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others. On July 15, 2010, BP said the leak had been stopped by capping the gushing oil wellhead, though there is a risk that a significant pressure shift could create a new leak on the sea floor. The drilling of relief wells to permanently close the well is ongoing.
The gusher was estimated by the quasi-official Flow Rate Technical Group to be flowing at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day. For comparison, this is an amount equal to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill every four to seven days. The exact flow rate is uncertain due to the difficulty of installing measurement devices at that depth and is a matter of ongoing debate. The resulting oil slick covers at least 2,500 square miles (6,500 km2), fluctuating from day to day depending on weather conditions. Scientists have also reported immense underwater plumes of oil not visible at the surface.
The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. There have been a variety of efforts to stem the flow at the wellhead. Crews have been working to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands and estuaries along the northern Gulf coast, using skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, and sand-filled barricades along shorelines. The U.S. Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to hold the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage.
Background information
- Wikipedia has some good background information.
US Government (Federal)
US Government (State)
- Alabama - Alabama Department of Public Health recommendations
- Florida - Florida Gulf Oil Spill page
- Louisiana - Latest news from Louisiana about Gulf Oil spill
- Mississippi - State Department of Health Gulf Oil Spill information
- Texas - News updates from Texas Department of State Health Services
BP Gulf of Mexico response
Twitter feeds with vital links to information
Citizen media (including on the ground reporting and updates)
Wikipedia
Facebook groups
News services and aggregation of stories
Videos on the oil spill and its aftermath
Blog updates
Crisis Information Management (Key actors and deployments)
Crisis Information Management (Blogs and deployment information by key CiM actors)
Mapping data / Imagery (General)
Mapping data / Imagery / GIS (very high resolution downloads)
Mobile device applications and services
- Oil Reporter by Crisis Commons, for iPhone and Google Android
Photos
Ways to help
The ICT4Peace Foundation is, unless specifically noted, not in any way associated with or part of the initiatives mentioned below.
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