RESTORE Act Gulf Coast. On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico that was owned by Transocean and drilling for British Petroleum (BP) exploded, killing 11 workers and injuring 16. The rig burned for over a day before it sunk into the gulf on April 22, 2010. Following the explosion, the seafloor oil gusher flowed for 87 days, spilling an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the gulf. The spill resulted in widespread damage to the environment and ecology of the gulf coast states, as well as subsequent economic damage to their tourism
Health consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill day of the meeting the suicide of William Allen Kruse, a charter boat captain working as a BP clean-up worker, intensified previous expert commentary on the current and likely long-term mental health effects of the ongoing crisis. David Abramson, director of research for Columbia's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, noted the increased risk of mental disorders and stress-related health problems. In August, the group released their conclusions in a report, "Workshop Summary: Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health". In 2011 the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center did a study to compare the