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The Deepwater Horizon was an oil drilling rig that exploded on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, 42 miles from Louisiana’s coast.(Figure 1) The Deepwater Horizon ended up killing eleven people, and it became the largest oil spill in American history. As crude oil was being pumped from the reservoir, methane gas escaped from the rig. The methane went up the pipe towards the surface and caused an explosion.(Figure 2) Ocean currents caused the 4 million barrels of oil to travel across the shore of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for almost three months.(Figure 3)
The National Response Team, a federal organization that provides assistance and resources for environmental disasters, organized various cleanup efforts to fix some of the problems that occurred from the oil spill. Most of the cleanup in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida was completed by June 2013, and most cleanup was finished in Louisiana by April 2014.

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diagram before Deepwater Horizon explosion

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fireboats attempting to extinguish the firm after the Deepwater Horizon explosion

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diagram after Deepwater Horizon explosion

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There were several techniques that cleaning crews used to try to remove the oil in the ocean. One method that was used involved using large floating barriers called “booms” to contain the oil. After the oil was contained with the booms, the oil could either be set on fire, (Figure 2) which would remove the surface oil, or it could be skimmed up onto a ship to be later disposed of.(Figure 3)  Setting the oil on fire was not the preferred method for removing the oil because the fire and the smoke that would be created was potentially harmful to the environment. For oil that was closer to the shore, a tool known as a sorbent would be used. A sorbent is a sponge-like object that can absorb oil.(Figure 4) Additionally, if any oil washed up on the shore, it would be raked up and then shoved into buckets for disposal.(Figure 5) Airplanes also sprayed dispersants into the ocean to get rid of oil. (Figure 6) Dispersants are chemicals that cause oil to break down into smaller pieces and mix with water more easily.

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oil captured with a boom being burned

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oil being sucked up from the Gulf of Mexico

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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sorbent in the Gulf of Mexico

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oil being cleaned up on a beach in Port Fourchon, Louisiana

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a US Air-force plane dropping dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico

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The Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to oil and gas being leaked into the Gulf of Mexico until it was capped after 87 days. Cleaning up millions of barrels of oil can be extremely difficult. The type of oil, the local environmental conditions such as currents, tides, weather, temperature, and wind significantly affect how challenging it will be for workers to clean up oil spill areas.
Around 3% of the total oil was able to be recovered from skimming. About 5% of the oil was able to be removed from controlled burning, and it is estimated that 17% of the oil was recovered from the wellhead. (Figure 9)Although this might not seem like much, that still equates to hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil were still able to be recovered. Additionally, dispersants ended up being a critical part of oil cleanup. While dispersants did not remove any oil, dispersants helped stop oil from clumping up on the ocean's surface. In total, over 1.4 million gallons of dispersants were dropped into the ocean.
While the deepwater horizon cleanup was far from perfect, it was still relatively successful. For example, seafood in the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat. More oil was recovered from the Deepwater Horizon cleanup than the Exxon Valdez spill, where only approximately 14% of the oil was recovered.

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Deepwater Horizon wellhead leaking oil

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Chemistry of an oil spill. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2021, from https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/chemistry-oil-spill.html

Deepwater horizon oil spill. (2021, April 13). Retrieved May 03, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Deepwater horizon – bp gulf of mexico oil spill. (2020, December 04). Retrieved May 03, 2021, from https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill

Gulf of mexico oil spill interactive. (2018, June 06). Retrieved May 03, 2021, from https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/gulf-oil-spill/gulf-mexico-oil-spill-interactive