On April 20, 2010, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana killed 11 workers, injured 17, and leaked 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It took four days to understand the scale of the explosion and to identify the leak, and it took about a month for the leak to be sealed following many unsuccessful attempts by BP. While the well was declared “effectively dead” at the time, reports conducted in 2012 found the well active and still leaking two years later. This event led to over 100 civil and criminal lawsuits against BP and other defendants responsible for the incident, which ended in more than $65 billion in costs for cleanup, charges, and penalties.
Rebecca Payne goes into great detail discussing this case from a public health standpoint. In this case study, Payne explains the epidemiological aspects of the case with a specific focus on the human health implications. Following the spill, the oil rig workers reported physical symptoms ranging from throat irritation to rectal bleeding to miscarriages as well as mental health symptoms including depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Payne also discusses the management surrounding the clean-up of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS) which proved to not only be expensive but also controversial. The use of dispersants to contain the spread failed while simultaneously resulting in major destruction to the marine wildlife and underwater ecosystem. These efforts appear to also have been mishandled by BP who failed to provide proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and safety training for the clean-up crew, despite orders from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Overall, as Payne explains, communication was poor and inefficient as both BP and the federal government under President Obama’s leadership failed to act in a timely manner, confirming that there are many lessons to be learned from this case. Payne explains that so long as the world continues to rely on petroleum, there will continue to be oil spills. However, the DHOS can serve as a cautionary tale and pave the way for improvement in public health policy, response time, clean-up efforts, and PPE while mitigating the effects on the surrounding biological environment.
Download the case study here.