Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 "Exxon Valdez" spill. Mechanical cleanup was started shortly afterwards using booms and skimmers, but the skimmers were not readily available during the first 24 hours following the spill, and thick oil and kelp tended to clog the equipment. Despite civilian insistence for a complete clean, only 10% of total oil was actually completely cleaned. Exxon was widely criticized for its slow response to cleaning up the disaster and John Devens, the mayor of
Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Coast Guard and other reporting agencies. Price of a barrel of oil (West Texas Intermediate – Cushing, Oklahoma) $84.34 Chris Oynes, offshore drilling director for the MMS, announces a hurried retirement. Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill The following is a timeline of the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill or the Macondo blowout). It was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. It was a result of the well blowout that began with the "Deepwater Horizon" drilling