PLAQUEMINE, La. — Fourteen years ago, on April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, sent flames shooting high into the sky about 40 miles off the coast of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
Eleven workers died on the rig in what would become the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Oil flowed from the damaged Macondo well over 87 days, before it was finally capped on July 15, 2010.
A federal court later concluded that 134 million gallons of crude spewed into the gulf, more than 12 times the amount spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. The spill coated beaches from Texas to Florida with oil and tar balls killed hundreds of thousands of marine animals and devastated the region’s tourist economy.
The spill virtually halted fishing and shoreline business along the Gulf Coast for months.
The city of New Orleans accepted a $45 million settlement offer from BP for economic damages caused by the disaster in 2015.
"This disaster devastated our environment, numerous families and businesses, and local economy – from our fisheries to hospitality industries," said then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu in announcing the settlement. "We will continue to deal with the long-term impacts of this disaster for years to come.”
Thousands of workers BP hired to clean up its mess say exposure to oil and chemicals made them sick. About 22,700 of them have been paid under a 2012 class-action settlement, but the average claim paid about $2,940.
Shrimper George Barisich received compensation for his seafood business losses under a separate settlement. He filed a claim for a chronic illness from exposure to the oil and chemical dispersants used to break up oil particles in the Gulf.
“There’s no justice here for people who actually worked, went out there to clean up their mess, and this is what we got for it: Not too good of a thank you, I don’t believe,” Barisich told WWL Louisiana Investigative Reporter David Hammer.
According to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, because of legal settlements with the state, more than $7.29 billion will be awarded to Louisiana for coastal projects through 2031, and another $1 billion for economic damages.
The deadly rig explosion led to an unprecedented federal response, including a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium and a record $4.5 billion in criminal penalties against the oil company, BP.
The BP oil spill is neither gone nor forgotten along coastal Louisiana.
According to a long-term study published in the journal Environmental Pollution last year, shoreline erosion doubled post-spill and oil contamination may have accelerated the region’s problems with coastal erosion.
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