Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Time: 1:30 - 3:00 PM
Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Drive, Terre Haute, IN
Community Room
Cost: FREE - No Registration Required

Almost thirteen years ago, an explosion on the oil drilling platform DeepWater Horizon led to the tragic loss of eleven lives during the explosion. It also caused the largest accidental oil spill in history. For 87 days, over 134 million gallons of oil flowed from the damaged Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico. The well was located at 5,000 ft depth, what made response operations to contain the flow difficult, and oil spread from the bottom to the surface of the Gulf, contaminating the entire water column. At the time, we had little knowledge of the behavior of oil spilled at depth, since most spills until then occurred at surface or shallower depths. We also could not predict the short and long-term effects on the marine environment, from both the spill and response operations. In the aftermath of the
spill, BP committed $500 million over a ten-year period to fund an independent research program designed to study the impact of oil in the environment and public health in the Gulf of Mexico. Over 4,000 researchers in 43 states and 18 countries joined efforts to advance our knowledge of oil behavior and fate in the environment, how to predict its dispersal, and to untangle the long-lasting impacts of the DWH spill in the Gulf’s marine and human lives. As a researcher that was part of this large effort, I will present what we have learned in the last decade, and our major lessons to be carried on in the response of the next oil spill.

Notes: Per university guidelines we are requiring that everyone wear a face covering again while entering, exiting and using the facility regardless of vaccination status.