Volume and extent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Gulf Coast that prevented vessels from coming within "of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations". In a press briefing, USCG admiral Thad Allen said the new regulation was related to safety issues. On CNN's "360", host Anderson Cooper rejected the motivation for the restrictions outright. The Civil Air Patrol also monitored the spill on behalf of the USCG. 27 May 2010 Volume and extent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill The "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. According
Gulf of Mexico BP reached an $18.7bn settlement with the US government, the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, as well as 400 local authorities. To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54bn. According to the National Response Center, the oil industry has thousands of minor accidents in the Gulf of Mexico every year. On May 12, 2016, a release of oil from subsea infrastructure on Shell's "Brutus" oil rig released 2,100 barrels of oil. This leak created a visible 2 mile by 13 mile oil slick in the sea about 97 miles