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Deepwater Horizon

Gulf of Mexico        2010-Apr-21

A fire and explosion occurred at approximately 11:00 PM CDT, April 20, 2010 on the DEEPWATER HORIZON, a semisubmersible drilling platform, with more than 120 crew aboard. The DEEPWATER HORIZON is located some 50 miles SE of the Mississippi Delta and contained an estimated 700,000 gallons of #2 Fuel Oil or Marine Diesel Fuel. (Related incidents: "Deepwater Horizon -- Florida Commands")

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Note: Documents are posted chronologically and early reports likely contain factual errors. These errors may be corrected in a later report.

Public Advisories and Press Releases

Why are there no new entries? 2010-May-05
USCG Press Release 04/27/2010 2010-Apr-27
Unified Command Joint Press Conference 3:00 PM CST, 25 Apr 10 2010-Apr-25
News coverage of USCG Press Conference 2010-Apr-24
Unified Command Joint Press Conference 2010-Apr-24
Joint Information Center Contact Number 2010-Apr-24
JIC Update #6 2010-Apr-23
USCG Media Advisory 23 Apr 10 2010-Apr-23
JIC Update #5 2010-Apr-23
Joint Information Center Established - 23 Apr 10 2010-Apr-23
More public advisories and press releases

Incident Response Documents

NOAA Situation Update 27 July 10 (FINAL REPORT) 2010-Jul-27
NOAA Situation Update 26 July 10 2010-Jul-26
NOAA Situation Update 25 July 10 2010-Jul-25
NOAA Situation Update 24 July 10 2010-Jul-24
NOAA Situation Update 23 July 10 2010-Jul-23
NOAA Situation Update 22 July 10 2010-Jul-22
NOAA Situation Update 21 July 10 2010-Jul-21
NOAA Situation Update 20 July 10 2010-Jul-20
NOAA Situation Update 19 July 10 2010-Jul-19
NOAA Situation Update 18 July 10 2010-Jul-18
More incident response documents

Incident Details

Spill, potential spill, or other: Oil Spill, Potential Oil Spill
Cause of incident: Fire / Explosion
Products of concern: Diesel, crude oil
Total amount at risk of spill: 700000 gallons

Latitude (approximate): 28° 44.20' North
Longitude (approximate): 88° 23.23' West

Counter measures:
On-Water Recovery: Evaluated and applied
Shoreline Cleanup: Evaluated and applied
Dispersants: Evaluated and applied
In-Situ Burn: Evaluated and applied
Bioremediation: Evaluated and applied

Public Information Contacts and Incident-Related Links

NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) provides science-based solutions to protect and restore the nation’s natural resources from coastal environmental hazards. OR&R serves the nation by providing expertise and a suite of products and services critical for making science-based response decisions that prevent further harm, restore natural resources, and promote effective planning for future incidents.