Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Deepwater Horizon drilling rig Deepwater Horizon was a 10-year-old semi-submersible, mobile, floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in waters up to deep. Built by South Korean company Hyundai Heavy Industries and owned by Transocean, the rig operated under the Marshallese flag of convenience, and was chartered to BP from March 2008 to September 2013. It was drilling a deep exploratory well, below sea level, in approximately of water. The well is situated in the Macondo Prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 253 (MC253) of the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States' exclusive economic zone. The Macondo well is found roughly off the Louisiana coast. BP was the operator and principal developer of the Macondo Prospect with a 65% share, while 25% was owned by Anadarko Petroleum, and 10% by MOEX Offshore 2007, a unit of Mitsui. Explosion At approximately , on 20 April 2010, high-pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the marine riser and rose into the drilling rig, where it ignited and exploded, engulfing the platform. Eleven missing workers were never found despite a three-day U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) search operation and are believed to have died in the explosion or its aftermath. Ninety-four crew members were rescued by lifeboat or helicopter, 17 of whom were treated for injuries. The Deepwater Horizon sank on the morning of 22 April 2010. == Volume and extent of oil spill ==

The oil leak was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. BP challenged the higher figure, saying that the government overestimated the prefaced volume. Internal emails released in 2013 showed that one BP employee had estimates that matched those of the FRTG, and shared the data with supervisors, but BP continued with their lower number. By early June 2010, oil had washed up on of Louisiana's coast and along the Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama coastlines. Concerns were raised about the appearance of underwater, horizontally-extended plumes of dissolved oil. Researchers concluded that deep plumes of dissolved oil and gas would likely remain confined to the northern Gulf of Mexico and that the peak impact on dissolved oxygen would be delayed and long-lasting. Although only "minute" quantities of oil continued to wash up in 2013, patches of tar balls were still being reported almost every day from Alabama and Florida Panhandle beaches. Regular cleanup patrols were no longer considered justified but cleanup was being conducted on an as-needed basis, in response to public reports. It was first thought that oil had not reached as far as Tampa Bay, Florida; however, a study done in 2013 found that one of the plumes of dispersant-treated oil had reached a shelf off the Tampa Bay region. According to researchers, there is "some evidence it may have caused lesions in fish caught in that area". == Efforts to stem the flow of oil ==

Short-term efforts under construction in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at Wild Well Control on 26 April First, BP unsuccessfully attempted to close the blowout preventer valves on the wellhead with remotely operated underwater vehicles. and in January 2013. == Containment, collection and use of dispersants ==

The fundamental strategies for addressing the spill were containment, dispersal and removal. In summer 2010, approximately 47,000 people and 7,000 vessels were involved in the project. By 3 October 2012, federal response costs amounted to $850 million, mostly reimbursed by BP. , 935 personnel were still involved. By that time cleanup had cost BP over $14 billion. Containment Containment booms stretching over were deployed, either to corral the oil or as barriers to protect marshes, mangroves, shrimp/crab/oyster ranches or other ecologically sensitive areas. Booms extend above and below the water surface and were effective only in relatively calm and slow-moving waters. Including one-time use sorbent booms, a total of of booms were deployed. Use of Corexit dispersant sprays Corexit dispersant onto the Gulf of Mexico|alt=A large four propeller airplane sprays Corexit onto oil-sheen water The spill was also notable for the volume of Corexit oil dispersant used and for application methods that were "purely experimental". According to a NALCO manual obtained by GAP, Corexit 9527 is an "eye and skin irritant. Repeated or excessive exposure ... may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver". The manual adds: "Excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects". It advises, "Do not get in eyes, on skin, on clothing", and "Wear suitable protective clothing". For Corexit 9500, the manual advised, "Do not get in eyes, on skin, on clothing", "Avoid breathing vapor", and "Wear suitable protective clothing". According to FOIA requests obtained by GAP, neither the protective gear nor the manual were distributed to Gulf oil spill cleanup workers. Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A were the principal variants. The scientists concluded that "Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems" and made the gulf oil spill worse. Removal The three basic approaches for removing the oil from the water were: combustion, offshore filtration, and collection for later processing. USCG said of tainted water was recovered, including of oil. BP said had been recovered or flared. Mixing dispersants with oil at the wellhead would keep some oil below the surface and, in theory, allow microbes to digest the oil before it reached the surface. Various risks were identified and evaluated, in particular, that an increase in microbial activity might reduce subsea oxygen levels, threatening fish and other animals. David L. Valentine, a professor of microbial geochemistry at UC Santa Barbara, said that the capability of microbes to break down the leaked oil had been greatly exaggerated. Genetically modified Alcanivorax borkumensis was added to the waters to speed digestion. The delivery method of microbes to oil patches was proposed by the Russian Research and Development Institute of Ecology and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. == Access restrictions ==

On 18 May 2010, BP was designated the lead "Responsible Party" under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which meant that BP had operational authority in coordinating the response. The first video images were released on 12 May, and further video images were released by members of Congress who had been given access to them by BP. During the spill response operations, at the request of the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented a temporary flight restriction zone over the operations area. Restrictions were to prevent civilian air traffic from interfering with aircraft assisting the response effort. Local and federal authorities citing BP's authority denied access to members of the press attempting to document the spill from the air, from boats, and on the ground, blocking access to areas that were open to the public. In some cases photographers were granted access only with BP officials escorting them on BP-contracted boats and aircraft. In one example, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped Jean-Michel Cousteau's boat and allowed it to proceed only after the Coast Guard was assured that no journalists were on board. Some members of Congress criticized the restrictions placed on access by journalists. The FAA denied that BP employees or contractors made decisions on flights and access, saying those decisions were made by the FAA and Coast Guard. The FAA acknowledged that media access was limited to hired planes or helicopters, but was arranged through the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard and BP denied having a policy of restricting journalists; they noted that members of the media had been embedded with the authorities and allowed to cover response efforts since the beginning of the effort, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. They also said that they wanted to provide access to the information while maintaining safety. ==Cleanup==

On 15 April 2014, BP announced that cleanup along the coast was substantially complete, while the United States Coast Guard work continued using physical barriers such as floating booms, the cleanup workers' objective was to keep the oil from spreading any further. They used skimmer boats to remove a majority of the oil and they used sorbents to absorb any remnant of oil like a sponge. Although that method did not remove the oil completely, chemicals called dispersants were used to hasten the oil's degradation to prevent the oil from doing further damage to the marine habitats below the surface water. For the Deep Horizon oil spill, cleanup workers used of various chemical dispersants to further breakdown the oil. The state of Louisiana received funding by BP to do regular testing of fish, shellfish, water, and sand. Initial testing regularly showed detectable levels of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, a chemical used in the clean up. Testing over 2019 reported by GulfSource.org, for the pollutants tested have not produced results. Due to the Deepwater Horizon spill, marine life was suffering. Thousands of animals were visibly covered in oil. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, working with the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park, rescued animals to help with the spill cleanup, although there were many animals found dead. == Consequences ==

Environmental impact The spill area hosts 8,332 species, including more than 1,270 fish, 604 polychaetes, 218 birds, 1,456 mollusks, 1,503 crustaceans, 4 sea turtles and 29 marine mammals. The oil and dispersant mixture permeated the food chain through zooplankton. According to J. Christopher Haney, Harold Geiger, and Jeffrey Short, three researchers with extensive experience in environmental monitoring and post-spill mortality assessments, over one million coastal birds died as a direct result of the Deepwater Horizon spill. These numbers, coupled with the National Audubon Society scientists' observations of bird colonies and bird mortality well after the acute phase, have led scientists to conclude that more than one million birds ultimately succumbed to the lethal effects of the Gulf oil spill. In July 2010, it was reported that the spill was "already having a 'devastating' effect on marine life in the Gulf". The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) reports that sea turtles, mostly endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles, have been stranding at a high rate. Before the spill there was an average of 100 strandings per year; since the spill the number has jumped to roughly 500. NWF senior scientist Doug Inkley notes that the marine death rates are unprecedented and occurring high in the food chain, strongly suggesting there is "something amiss with the Gulf ecosystem". In December 2013, the journal Environmental Science & Technology published a study finding that of 32 dolphins briefly captured from 24-km stretch near southeastern Louisiana, half were seriously ill or dying. BP said the report was "inconclusive as to any causation associated with the spill". In 2012, tar balls continued to wash up along the Gulf coast In 2013, former NASA physicist Bonny Schumaker noted a "dearth of marine life" in a radius around the well, after flying over the area numerous times since May 2010. In 2013, researchers found that oil on the bottom of the seafloor did not seem to be degrading, and observed a phenomenon called a "dirty blizzard": oil in the water column began clumping around suspended sediments, and falling to the ocean floor in an "underwater rain of oily particles". The result could have long-term effects because oil could remain in the food chain for generations. A 2015 study of the relative toxicity of oil and dispersants to coral also found that the dispersants were more toxic than the oil. A 2015 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published in PLOS ONE, links the sharp increase in dolphin deaths to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. On 12 April 2016, a research team reported that 88 percent of about 360 baby or stillborn dolphins within the spill area "had abnormal or under-developed lungs", compared to 15 percent in other areas. The study was published in the April 2016 Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. Health consequences By June 2010, 143 spill-exposure cases had been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; 108 of those involved workers in the clean-up efforts, while 35 were reported by residents. The United States Department of Health and Human Services set up the GuLF Study in June 2010 in response to these reports. The study is run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and will last at least five years. Mike Robicheux, a Louisiana physician, described the situation as "the biggest public health crisis from a chemical poisoning in the history of this country." She said that workers from the Valdez spill had suffered long-term health consequences. Following the 26 May 2010 hospitalization of seven fishermen that were working in the cleanup crew, BP requested that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health perform a Health Hazard Evaluation. This was to cover all offshore cleanup activities; BP later requested a second NIOSH investigation of onshore cleanup operations. Tests for chemical exposure in the seven fishermen were negative; NIOSH concluded that the hospitalizations were most likely a result of heat, fatigue, and terpenes that were being used to clean the decks. Review of 10 later hospitalizations found that heat exposure and dehydration were consistent findings but could not establish chemical exposure. NIOSH personnel performed air monitoring around cleanup workers at sea, on land, and during the application of Corexit. Air concentrations of volatile organic compounds and PAHs never exceeded permissible exposure levels. A limitation of their methodology was that some VOCs may have already evaporated from the oil before they began their investigation. In their report, they suggest the possibility that respiratory symptoms might have been caused by high levels of ozone or reactive aldehydes in the air, possibly produced from photochemical reactions in the oil. NIOSH did note that many of the personnel involved were not donning personal protective equipment (gloves and impermeable coveralls) as they had been instructed to and emphasized that this was important protection against transdermal absorption of chemicals from the oil. Heat stress was found to be the most pressing safety concern. Workers reported that they were not allowed to use respirators, and that their jobs were threatened if they did. OSHA said "cleanup workers are receiving "minimal" exposure to airborne toxins...OSHA will require that BP provide certain protective clothing, but not respirators." ProPublica reported that workers were being photographed while working with no protective clothing. An independent investigation for Newsweek showed that BP did not hand out the legally required safety manual for use with Corexit, and were not provided with safety training or protective gear. A 2012 survey of the health effects of the spill on cleanup workers reported "eye, nose and throat irritation; respiratory problems; blood in urine, vomit and rectal bleeding; seizures; nausea and violent vomiting episodes that last for hours; skin irritation, burning and lesions; short-term memory loss and confusion; liver and kidney damage; central nervous system effects and nervous system damage; hypertension; and miscarriages". Dr. James Diaz, writing for the American Journal of Disaster Medicine, said these ailments appearing in the Gulf reflected those reported after previous oil spills, like the Exxon Valdez. Diaz warned that "chronic adverse health effects, including cancers, liver and kidney disease, mental health disorders, birth defects and developmental disorders should be anticipated among sensitive populations and those most heavily exposed". Diaz also believes neurological disorders should be expected. In 2013, during the three-day "Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference", findings discussed included a '"significant percentage" of Gulf residents reporting mental health problems like anxiety, depression and PTSD. These studies also showed that the bodies of former spill cleanup workers carry biomarkers of "many chemicals contained in the oil". A study that investigated the health effects among children in Louisiana and Florida living less than 10 miles from the coast found that more than a third of the parents reported physical or mental health symptoms among their children. The parents reported "unexplained symptoms among their children, including bleeding ears, nose bleeds, and the early start of menstruation among girls," according to David Abramson, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Economy , advising against swimming due to the oil spill The spill had a strong economic impact to BP and also the Gulf Coast's economy sectors such as offshore drilling, fishing and tourism. Estimates of lost tourism dollars were projected to cost the Gulf coastal economy up to $22.7 billion through 2013. In addition, Louisiana reported that lost visitor spending through the end of 2010 totaled $32 million, and losses through 2013 were expected to total $153 million in this state alone. The Gulf of Mexico commercial fishing industry was estimated to have lost $247 million as a result of postspill fisheries closures. One study projects that the overall impact of lost or degraded commercial, recreational, and mariculture fisheries in the Gulf could be $8.7 billion by 2020, with a potential loss of 22,000 jobs over the same time frame. BP's expenditures on the spill included the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs, including fines and penalties. During the crisis, BP gas stations in the United States reported a sales drop of between 10 and 40% due to backlash against the company. On 22 June, a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Martin Leach-Cross Feldman when ruling in the case Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar, lifted the moratorium finding it too broad, arbitrary and not adequately justified. On 28 April 2010, the National Energy Board of Canada, which regulates offshore drilling in the Canadian Arctic and along the British Columbia Coast, issued a letter to oil companies asking them to explain their argument against safety rules which require same-season relief wells. == Reactions ==

U.S. reactions On 30 April, President Obama dispatched the Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Homeland Security, as well as the EPA Administrator and NOAA to the Gulf Coast to assess the disaster. The petroleum industry claimed that disasters are infrequent and that this spill was an isolated incident and rejected claims of a loss of industry credibility. The council called together a number of federal committees and departments engaged in ocean issues to work with a newly established committee for conservation and resource management. In June 2018, the executive order establishing the National Ocean Council was revoked by then-U.S. president Donald Trump in an effort to roll back bureaucracy and benefit "ocean industries [that] employ millions of Americans". United Kingdom reactions In the UK, there was anger at the American press and news outlets for the misuse of the term "British Petroleum" for the company – a name which has not been used since British Petroleum merged with the American company Amoco in 1998 to form BP Amoco. It was said that the U.S. was "dumping" the blame onto the British people and there were calls for British Prime Minister David Cameron to protect British interests in the United States. British pension fund managers (who have large holdings of BP shares and rely upon its dividends) accepted that while BP had to pay compensation for the spill and the environmental damage, they argued that the cost to the company's market value from President Obama's criticism was far outweighing the direct clean-up costs. In July 2013, Hayward was awarded an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University. This was described as a "sick joke" and "a very serious error of judgement" by Friends of the Earth Scotland. The student body president expressed that students would be "very disappointed". International reactions The U.S. government rejected offers of cleanup help from Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations. The U.S. State Department listed 70 assistance offers from 23 countries, all being initially declined, but later, 8 had been accepted. The USCG actively requested skimming boats and equipment from several countries. == Legal aspects and settlements ==

Investigations In the United States the Deepwater Horizon investigation included several investigations and commissions, including reports by: • the USCG National Incident Commander, Admiral Thad Allen, • the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, • Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), • National Academy of Engineering, • National Research Council, • Government Accountability Office, • National Oil Spill Commission, and • Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. The report found that on 20 April 2010, managers misread pressure data and gave their approval for rig workers to replace drilling fluid in the well with seawater, which was not heavy enough to prevent gas that had been leaking into the well from firing up the pipe to the rig, causing the explosion. The conclusion was that BP was partly to blame, as was Transocean, which owned the rig. Responding to the report, Transocean and Halliburton placed all blame on BP. On 9 November 2010, a report by the Oil Spill Commission said that there had been "a rush to completion" on the well and criticised poor management decisions. "There was not a culture of safety on that rig," the co-chair said. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released a final report on 5 January 2011. In July 2013, BP made a motion in court to freeze payments on tens of thousands of claims, arguing inter alia that a staff attorney from the Deepwater Horizon Court-Supervised Settlement Program, the program responsible for evaluating compensation claims, had improperly profited from claims filed by a New Orleans law firm. The attorney is said to have received portions of settlement claims for clients he referred to the firm. Civil litigation and settlements By 26 May 2010, over 130 lawsuits relating to the spill had been filed The DOJ also said Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, was guilty of gross negligence as well. On 14 November 2012, BP and the US Department of Justice reached a settlement. BP will pay $4.5 billion in fines and other payments, the largest of its kind in US history. In addition, the U.S. government temporarily banned BP from new federal contracts over its "lack of business integrity". On 3 January 2013, the US Justice Department announced "Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties". In January 2014, a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an effort by BP to curb payment of what it described as "fictitious" and "absurd" claims to a settlement fund for businesses and persons affected by the oil spill. BP said administration of the 2012 settlement was marred by the fact that people without actual damages could file a claim. The court ruled that BP had not explained "how this court or the district court should identify or even discern the existence of 'claimants that have suffered no cognizable injury.'" The Court then went further, calling BP's position "nonsensical". The Supreme Court of the United States later refused to hear BP's appeal after victims and claimants, along with numerous Gulf coast area chambers of commerce, objected to the oil major's efforts to renege on the Settlement Agreement. In September 2014, Halliburton agreed to settle a large percentage of legal claims against it by paying $1.1 billion into a trust by way of three installments over two years. Justice Department lawsuit BP and its partners in the oil well, Transocean and Halliburton, went on trial on 25 February 2013 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans to determine payouts and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. The plaintiffs included the U.S. Justice Department, Gulf states and private individuals. Tens of billions of dollars in liability and fines were at stake. A finding of gross negligence would result in a four-fold increase in the fines BP would have to pay for violating the federal Clean Water Act, and leave the company liable for punitive damages for private claims. The trial's first phase was to determine the liability of BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and other companies, and if they acted with gross negligence and willful misconduct. Barbier ruled that BP had acted with "conscious disregard of known risks" and rejected BP's assertion that other parties were equally responsible for the oil spill. His ruling stated that BP "employees took risks that led to the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history", that the company was "reckless", and determined that several crucial BP decisions were "primarily driven by a desire to save time and money, rather than ensuring that the well was secure." BP strongly disagreed with the ruling and filed an immediate appeal. On 2 July 2015, BP, the U.S. Justice Department and five gulf states announced that the company agreed to pay a record settlement of $18.7 billion. To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54 billion. Criminal charges In addition to the private lawsuits and civil governmental actions, the federal government charged multiple companies and five individuals with federal crimes. In the November 2012 resolution of the federal charges against it, BP agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony counts related to the deaths of the 11 workers and paid a $4 billion fine. None of the charges against individuals resulted in any prison time, and no charges were levied against upper level executives. Anthony Badalementi was sentenced to one year probation, Kurt Mix received 6 months' probation, and David Rainey and Robert Kaluza were acquitted. == In popular culture ==

Documentary • On 28 March 2011, Dispatches aired a documentary by James Brabazon, BP: In Deep Water, about the oil company, BP, covering oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and other incidents and its relationship with governments. • In April 2012, the National Geographic Channel's documentary series Seconds From Disaster featured the accident in an episode titled "The Deepwater Horizon" • In 2012, Beyond Pollution 2012 traveled across the gulf coast interviewing environmental experts, government authorities, fishermen, scientists, drilling engineers, and key BP contractors, examining economic and health effects. • In 2012, The Big Fix, documented the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig • In 2014, The Great Invisible, by Margaret Brown chose to focus on the social impacts on people whose lives have been affected by this tragedy. Later airing 19 April 2015 as the season 16, episode 14 of Independent Lens. • In 2014, Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe a la Hache, Louisiana, documented a town of nearly 300 struggling to survive following the oil spill that left their crop dead and finances in ruin. • In 2016, Pretty Slick documented the cleanup effort and locals across four Gulf states about the largest man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. • In 2016, After the Spill, Jon Bowermaster investigates how the disaster affected local economies and the health of humans, animals, and food sources, and with Corexit, where all the oil went, as a follow-up to the pre-spill SoLa, Louisiana Water Stories, in post-production when the Deepwater Horizon exploded. • In 2016, Dispatches from the Gulf, Hal Weiner follows scientists investigating the oil spill's effect on the Gulf. Drama • In 2012, "We Just Decided To", the pilot of the HBO TV series The Newsroom, featured its characters covering the Deepwater Horizon story. • The 2015 film The Runner, directed by Austin Stark and starring Nicolas Cage, is a fictional story of a politician and his family set in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. • In 2016, Deepwater Horizon, a film based on the explosion, directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich was released. Music • In 2011, Jimmy Fallon, then host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, created a protest song about how there were still tarballs floating around the Gulf of Mexico called "Balls In Your Mouth". He performed it a number of times on the show with different guest singers, including Eddie Vedder, Russell Crowe, Brad Paisley, and Florence Welch. The live recording of the song featuring Eddie Vedder was included in Fallon's comedy album "Blow Your Pants Off". • In 2011, Rise Against released a song titled "Help Is on the Way" on their album Endgame. The song is about the slow response time for aid to disaster-stricken areas, with lyrics that allude to the Macondo spill and Hurricane Katrina. • In June 2011, Canadian musician City and Colour released a song titled "At the Bird's Foot" on his album Little Hell. The song is about the event and the greed of those involved. • On election day in the United States, 6 November 2012, Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt released the music video and single "God's Counting on Me, God's Counting on You", which they recorded and filmed live aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in 2010 immediately after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The song references the spill. • In 2012, American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird released the song "Hole in the Ocean Floor" referencing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as his inspiration. Television • The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is referenced in a 2010 episode of South Park, "Coon 2: Hindsight". When a BP drilling vessel drills a new hole in the Gulf, it accidentally causes an oil spill in a protected zone, prompting one of the crewmen to exclaim "Oh, don't tell me we did it again?". Later on in the episode, BP drilled again and opened up a portal to another dimension, causing the Gulf to be attacked by its creatures. Then they drilled on the Moon hoping to change the gravitational pull on the Earth and quell the swells on the ocean, allowing them to place a cap on the portal. However, in doing this, Cthulhu emerged from the portal. Each time they drilled, Tony Hayward released a "we're sorry" campaign. The hole in the Gulf wasn't shut until two episodes later. • The Beavis and Butt-Head season 8 episode, "Spill", takes place at the Gulf when their teacher, Mr. Van Driessen, organizes a trip to help clean baby birds affected by the oil spill. The boys mistakenly believe they will be having sex with "filthy chicks" and volunteer to go. == See also ==