Drilling Too Close For Comfort

  • Gerald Herbert / AP

    The government, BP and the oil industry as a whole have long known the dangers of offshore drilling and the odds of a disaster like the current one. Still, the events preceding the Deepwater Horizon accident and the uneven reaction since have given critics plenty of reasons to complain

    DECEMBER 1998

    Hyundai Heavy Industries begins building the Deepwater Horizon rig in Ulsan, South Korea

    FEBRUARY 2010

    The Deepwater Horizon begins drilling a well at a depth of about 5,000 ft. (1,500 m) in the Gulf of Mexico

    MARCH 31

    President Obama proposes expanded drilling in the Gulf, the Atlantic and the Arctic--a position for which he had criticized John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign

    APRIL 20

    The Deepwater Horizon, which is owned by Transocean and leased to BP, explodes, killing 11 people and injuring 17 others. Multiple safety systems, including a blowout preventer, evidently failed. An estimated 1,000 bbl. (42,000 gal.) of crude oil per day begins to leak into the Gulf some 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Venice, La. The rig sinks two days later

    APRIL 25

    BP uses remote-controlled robots to try to repair the blowout preventer, but the effort fails

    APRIL 28

    Government officials revise their estimate of the spill to 5,000 bbl. (210,000 gal.) a day. The Coast Guard begins periodic controlled burns to slow the slick's spread. To date, more than 120 controlled burns have removed more than 67,000 bbl. (2.8 million gal.) of oil from the water

    APRIL 29

    With his state's natural resources threatened by the growing slick, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declares a state of emergency

    APRIL 30

    The White House says no new offshore drilling will be permitted until the disaster investigation is completed

    MAY 2

    Obama visits Louisiana for a firsthand look at the spill. Part of the federal fishery in the Gulf is shut down, initially for 10 days. By June 2, about 37% of it--more than 88,000 sq. mi. (228,000 sq km)--will be declared off-limits

    MAY 2

    BP begins working on the first of two relief wells that could help stop the flow but will not be finished until August

    MAY 6

    Gobs of oil wash ashore on the Chandeleur Islands, part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge. The slick reaches Louisiana's coastal wetlands 13 days later

    MAY 7

    BP attempts to block the gusher with a containment dome, but the method fails when icy gas hydrates block the opening through which the oil would have been collected

    MAY 11

    Executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton (which performed the rig's cement work) testify before a Senate committee. Obama calls their public finger-pointing a "ridiculous spectacle"

    MAY 14

    BP begins threading a mile-long "straw" into the broken pipe so that a tanker at the surface can suck up the oil. The method eventually works but collects only an average of 2,000 bbl. (84,000 gal.) a day

    MAY 15

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