Two years passed Gulf Oil Spill

This April 21, 2010 file photo shows the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, off the southeast tip of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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Two years since Gulf oil spill

Updated: Friday, 20 Apr 2012, 10:05 AM CDT
Published : Friday, 20 Apr 2012, 7:49 AM CDT

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The Gulf Oil Spill in 2010 changed the lives of many people along the Gulf Coast. The disaster began with an explosion aboard the BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig on April 20.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange releases statement on two year anniversary.

The explosion killed eleven men on the rig. Two days later, the rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico.

Investigators determined the rig's blowout preventer failed. The blowout preventer is a large, specialized valve that can seal off and control oil and gas wells.

The failure of the blowout preventer allowed oil to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. Engineers tried several methods to cap off the leaking well, but they didn't succeed until July 15. By then, it's estimated, 206 million gallons of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Federal Government tried to protect the coastline from the oil by using dispersants, and deploying boom from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. But oil still managed to reach the shoreline.

The oil soaked fragile wetlands, killed wildlife, and closed areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing. On July 15, tarballs washed up on Dauphin Island.

The oil spill dealt a big blow to the tourism industry. BP has given millions to the Gulf Coast Tourism Industry to help bring people back to the beaches.

BP also set aside $20 billion for businesses and individuals affected by the spill. Thousands of people have filed claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. As of April 19, 2012, more than a half million claims have been filed. Nearly have of those claims have been paid, totaling $6.3 billion.

While billions have been paid out, an audit of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility uncovered "significant erroris" with the claims process.

The Justice Department says another $64 million will be paid to about 7,300 people and businesses whose claims were shortchanged or wrongfully denied.

The auditor also found claims erroneously overpaid, but the GCCF isn't trying to recover those overpayments.

Check out these links for more information:
GCCF Claims Report as of April 19, 2012
FOX10 News Interactive Timeline
FAQs about seafood
NASA Satellite Images
BP Gulf of Mexico Restoration

Two years since Gulf oil spill

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