Deepwater Horizon oil spill Deepwater Horizon oil spill The "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill/leak, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout) is an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill. The U.S. government estimated the total discharge at . After several failed efforts to contain
Deepwater Horizon oil spill leaked oil had been greatly exaggerated. However, biogeochemist Chris Reddy, said natural microorganisms are a big reason why the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not far worse. Genetically modified "Alcanivorax borkumensis" was added to the waters to speed digestion. The delivery method of microbes to oil patches was proposed by the Russian Research and Development Institute of Ecology and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. On 18 May 2010, BP was designated the lead "Responsible Party" under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which meant that BP had operational authority in coordinating the response. The first video