Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (May 2010)
Encyclopedia
May 1–5
- May 1
- Two military C-130 HerculesC-130 HerculesThe Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
aircraft were employed to spray oil dispersantDispersantA dispersant or a dispersing agent or a plasticizer or a superplasticizer is either a non-surface active polymer or a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping...
.
- May 2
- Obama meets with fishermen and Coast Guard in Venice, LouisianaVenice, LouisianaVenice is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is 130 km south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River at . It is the last community down the Mississippi accessible by automobile, and is the southern terminus of the Great River Road...
. Oil discovered in the South Pass. - Transocean's Development Driller IIIDevelopment Driller IIIDevelopment Driller III is a fifth generation, Vanuatu-flagged dynamic positioning semi-submersible ultra-deepwater drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated under lease agreements by various petroleum exploration and production companies worldwide...
started drilling a first relief well. High winds and rough waves rendered oil-catching booms largely ineffective.
- May 3
- BP says it will pay clean up costs. Fishing areas remain closed.
- Shares of Nalco Holding CompanyNalco Holding CompanyNalco Holding Company supplies water treatment and process improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs for industrial and institutional markets. These products and services are marketed in some cases to prevent corrosion, contamination and the buildup of harmful deposits...
jump 18% in one day after it is revealed its dispersant products are being use for cleanup.
- May 4
- BP proposes a containment dome.
- May 5
- BP announces that the smallest of three known leaks had been capped allowing the repair group to focus their efforts on the remaining leaks.
May 6–10
- May 6
- Oil sheen discovered in south end of Chandeleur ChainChandeleur IslandsThe Chandeleur Islands are a chain of uninhabited barrier islands approximately long, located in the Gulf of Mexico. They form the easternmost point of the state of Louisiana, USA and are a part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge...
.
- May 7
- A 125 tonnes (275,577.8 lb) container dome is lowered over the largest of the well leaks and pipe the oil to a storage vessel on the surface.
- BP begins drilling a relief well.
- BP closing stock price 49.06
- Breton National Wildlife RefugeBreton National Wildlife RefugeBreton National Wildlife Refuge is located in southeastern Louisiana in the offshore Breton Islands and Chandeleur Islands. It is located in the Gulf of Mexico and is accessible only by boat...
closed to public. - Secretary Alan Levine of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Peggy Hatch, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham sent a letter to BP outlining their concerns related to potential dispersant impact on Louisiana's wildlife and fisheries, environment, aquatic life, and public health. Officials requested that BP release information on their dispersant effects.
- May 8
- BP reports that methaneMethaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
is freezing at the top of the dome making it ineffective. - Unified Command noting low level flights above Breton National Wildlife Refuge issues press release reminding the media that low level flights above wildlife refuges is prohibited by law above all refuges.
- May 9
- Tar ballsTarball (oil)A tarball is a blob of petroleum which has been weathered after floating in the ocean. Tarballs are an aquatic pollutant in most environments, although they can occur naturally and as such are not always associated with oil spills....
reported on Dauphin Island in Alabama.
- May 10
- After failed containment dome BP announces plans to apply five feet in diameter containment vessel nicknamed "top hat". BP announces strategy of trying to push mud and debris down the tube to clog it. The strategy is nicknamed "junk shot."
May 11–15
- May 11
- BP, Transocean and Halliburton officials testify before Congress blaming each other for the incident.
- MMS and Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team chaired by USCG Capt. Hung Nguyen and MMS employee David Dykes begin a Joint Marine Board of Investigation into the accident holding the first hearings at the Crowne Plaza HotelCrowne PlazaCrowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands, which include InterContinental and Holiday Inn and operates in 52 countries, usually located in...
in Kenner, LouisianaKenner, LouisianaKenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
where they interview survivors. The investigation is to report its findings in nine months from its convening on April 27. - BP in its regulatory filing says a blowout in its relief well could result in a release of 240,000 barrels a day.
- May 12
- BP releases first public video of leak and others say the leak is significantly higher than what BP has been saying. One estimate says it could to be 20000 bbl (840,000 US gal; 3,179.7 m³) a day.
- MMS reports that after re-inspecting all deepwater oil and gas facilities on the outer Continental Shelf it had found no major violations.
- More than 70 lawsuits have been file against BP.
- May 13
- Tony HaywardTony HaywardAnthony Bryan "Tony" Hayward is a British businessman, the former chief executive of oil and energy company BP. He replaced John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley on 1 May 2007. His tenure ended on 1 October 2010 in large part due to the circumstances of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill...
calls the oil spill "relatively tiny" in comparison with the size of the "ocean." - Transocean files in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to limit its liability under the Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act to just its interest in the Deepwater Horizon which it values at $26,764,083, Transocean said 100 lawsuits had been filed against it.
- May 14
- BP inserts 4 inches (10.2 cm) wide riser into the 21-inch-wide burst pipe. It is initially dislodged when a underwater robot collides with the pipe. BP closing stock price 48.6
- May 15
- Construction of a new permanent riser to replace the temporary riser begins. The installation for the new riser is targeted for June 15.
- Coast Guard and EPA authorize use dispersants underwater, at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak.
May 16–20
- May 16
- A new tube is inserted into the pipe and some oil is pumped to surface ship. Transocean's GSF Development Driller IIGSF Development Driller IIGSF Development Driller II is a fifth generation, Vanuatu-flagged dynamic positioning semi-submersible ultra-deepwater drilling rig owned and operated by Transocean...
started drilling second relief well.
- May 17
- BP begins burning off gas with the Discoverer EnterpriseDiscoverer EnterpriseDiscoverer Enterprise is a fifth generation deepwater double hulled dynamically positioned drillship owned and operated by Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., capable of operating in moderate environments and water depths up to 3,049 m using an , 15,000 psi blowout preventer ,...
. - BP says it will release a live feed of the leak hours after receiving a request from Congressman Edward Markey. Supporting his position is Steve Wereley from Purdue UniversityPurdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
who says the leak may be 70000 bbl (2,939,999.8 US gal; 11,129,110.7 l) a day. BP America President Lamar McKay defends the company's estimates noting the higher estimates are "theoretically possible...But I don't think anyone who's been working on this thinks it's that high." - Chris OynesChris OynesChris Oynes served as U.S. Minerals Management Service associate director for offshore energy and minerals management before he retired in May 2010...
, Regional Director for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, announces his early retirement from the MMS.
- May 18
- BP CEO Tony Hayward stated at its respond to Ken Salazar that the environmental impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would be "very, very modest".
- May 19
- Oil washes ashore on mainland Louisiana.
- Salazar signs a Secretarial Order dividing MMS into three separate divisions: Bureau of Ocean Energy ManagementBureau of Ocean Energy ManagementThe Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is an agency under the United States Department of the Interior, established by Secretarial Order. The agency exercises the oil, gas, and renewable energy-related management functions formerly under the Minerals Management Service, including activities...
reporting to Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental EnforcementBureau of Safety and Environmental EnforcementThe Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is an agency under the United States Department of the Interior, established by Secretarial Order...
reporting to Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Office of Natural Resources RevenueOffice of Natural Resources RevenueThe Office of Natural Resources Revenue is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior, established by Secretarial Order. The new office exercises the royalty and revenue management functions formerly under the Minerals Management Service, including royalty and revenue collection,...
reporting to Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget. - Coast Guard labs report that tar balls that washed up at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, FloridaKey West, FloridaKey West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
are not from the spill.
- May 20
- The EPA tells BP to find a new dispersantDispersantA dispersant or a dispersing agent or a plasticizer or a superplasticizer is either a non-surface active polymer or a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping...
to replace Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A that are either comparable or 10 to 20 times more toxic than 12 other dispersants on the EPA's approved list. BP has applied 650,000 gallons of the chemical that breaks up oil since the spill began. Corexit is manufactured by Nalco Holding CompanyNalco Holding CompanyNalco Holding Company supplies water treatment and process improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs for industrial and institutional markets. These products and services are marketed in some cases to prevent corrosion, contamination and the buildup of harmful deposits...
which has ties to BP and ExxonMobilExxonMobilExxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
.
May 21–25
- May 21
- BP begins live underwater video broadcasts of the leak.
- BP closing stock price 44.58 following pressure from Congressman Ed MarkeyEd MarkeyEdward John "Ed" Markey is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1976. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Boston's northern and western suburbs, such as Medford and Framingham. Markey is the Dean of both the Massachusetts and New England House delegations...
. - Flow Rate Technical GroupFlow Rate Technical GroupThe Flow Rate Technical Group is a group of scientists and engineers from the United States federal government, universities, and research institutions created May 19, 2010, for an official scientific-based estimate of the flow of oil in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It issued an interim report...
established to "scientifically validated information about the amount of oil flowing from BP s leaking oil well." The average daily oil collection rates is 2000 bbl (84,000 US gal; 317,974.6 l) a day.
- May 22
- Obama signs an executive order establishing the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore DrillingNational Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore DrillingThe National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is a bipartisan presidential commission, established by Executive Order 13543 signed by Barack Obama on May 21, 2010, that is “tasked with providing recommendations on how the United States can prevent and mitigate...
, with former FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Governor and Senator Bob GrahamBob GrahamDaniel Robert "Bob" Graham is an American politician. He was the 38th Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from that state from 1987 to 2005...
and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator William K. ReillyWilliam K. ReillyWilliam K. Reilly was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and on many boards of directors...
serving as co-chairs. The purpose of the commission is to "consider the root causes of the disaster and offer options on safety and environmental precautions."
- May 23
- BP rebuffs EPA order to change its dispersants. BP says that if oil reaches the shore, it would do more environmental harm than if it were dispersed off the coast. It notes that corexit is the only product that is available in sufficient quantities to deal with the spill. Further BP which has now deployed a third of the world's dispersant supply against the spill said suggesting alternatives (or even detailing the chemicals that make up corexit) would expose confidential business information which it legally can keep private.
- May 24
- BP says it currently has no plans to use explosives on the well. It also flatly denies it ever considered using a nuclear bomb on the well as some suggested.
- Tom Sesler an official blogger on the BP website reporting from Houma (30 miles north of the Gulf) says, "Much of the region's other businesses - particularly the hotels - have been prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oil emergency response teams."
- May 25
- BP official says BP would like to retrieve the 325 ton blow out equipment from the sunk Deepwater Horizon. Transocean confirms will meet the legal obligations of a dividend that was approved at the annual general meeting on May 14, 2010
- Transocean holds memorial at the Jackson Convention Center in Jackson, MississippiJackson, MississippiJackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
for crew members.
May 26–31
- May 26
- BP announces plan to force feed heavy drilling mudDrilling fluidIn geotechnical engineering, drilling fluid is a fluid used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also used for much simpler boreholes, such as water wells. Liquid drilling fluid...
in a project called "top killTop killA top kill is a procedure used as a means of regaining control over an oil well that is experiencing an uncontrolled eruption of crude oil or natural gas . The process involves pumping heavyweight drilling mud into the well...
". - Doug Brown, the chief mechanic on the Deepwater Horizon, testifies at the joint U.S. Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service hearing that a BP representative overruled Transocean employees and insisted on displacing protective drilling mud with seawater just hours before the explosion.
- May 27
- Obama announces a six-month moratoriumMoratorium (law)A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
on new deepwater oil drilling permits in 500 feet of water or more. Deepwater rigs lease for between $250,000 and $500,000 a day and employ between 800 and 1,400 during the initial drilling. The moratorium will affect 33 wells: Royal Dutch Shell Plc (5 rigs), Eni SpA (3), Marathon Oil Corp. (3), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (3), Statoil ASA (2), Chevron Corp. (2), Noble Corp. (2), Devon Energy Corp. (2). BP Plc (2), BHP Billiton Ltd. (2), Hess Corp. (1), LLOG Exploration Co. (1), Walter Energy Inc. (1), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (1), ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (1), Newfield Exploration Co. (1), Nexen Inc. (1)). - Based on the oil flow estimates by the Flow Rate Technical Group, the United States government increased its estimate at 12000 bbl (504,000 US gal; 1,907,847.5 l) per day.
- Elizabeth Birnbaum resigns from MMS.
- May 28
- Obama visits Louisiana again.
- In a regulatory filing, BP claims to have spent a total of $930 million.
- BP closing stock price 42.95
- Bureau of Land ManagementBureau of Land ManagementThe Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
Director Bob Abbey named interim director. - Obama reverses a Fall 2009 position and authorizes the International Association of Drilling Contractors to visit CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Repsol YPFRepsol YPFRepsol YPF, S.A. is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries...
has a 5-year lease to begin exploratory drilling off the Cuban coast in Gulf of Mexico deepwater later in 2010. The United States embargo against CubaUnited States embargo against CubaThe United States embargo against Cuba is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo partially imposed on Cuba in October 1960...
forbids economic ties between the countries. Newspaper articles have noted that if there were an accident U.S. companies could not legally provide assistance.
- May 29
- BP declares Top Kill is a failure and moves on to their next contingency option, the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System. The operational plan first involves cutting and then removing the damaged riserDrilling riserA drilling riser is a conduit that provides a temporary extension of a subsea oil well to a surface drilling facility. Drilling risers are categorised into two types: marine drilling risers used with subsea blowout preventer and generally used by floating drilling vessels; and tie-back drilling...
from the top of the failed Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) to leave a cleanly-cut pipe at the top of the BOP’s LMRP. The cap is designed to be connected to a riser from the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and placed over the LMRP with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well. During the cutting of the pipe, the diamond blade saw became stuck but was eventually freed later. BP had to use shears instead and the cut is "ragged", meaning the cap will be harder to fit.
- May 30
- New Orleans Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Times-PicayuneThe Times-Picayune is a daily newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.-History:Established as The Picayune in 1837 by Francis Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall, the paper's initial price was one picayune—a Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ .Under Eliza Jane Nicholson, who inherited the...
publishes article outlining the difficulties of using relief wells noting that the wells first have to hit the original well bore that is only a foot wide and then has to make sure it can control the output once it hits the well bore so that it doesn't create a duplicate problem. The original well has already shown it has unpredictable gas bubbles. It notes the Ixtoc I oil spill which was finally stopped by the two relief well approach after nine months and 22 days. Ixtoc was in 150 feet of water and had a depth of 11,625 feet.
- May 31
- BP announces plan to slice the leaking pipe, placing a cap on it and channeling the oil to surface ships. Robert ReichRobert ReichRobert Bernard Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997....
writes a column on the Huffington Post saying the United States government should temporarily takeover BP much as it did with AIGAIGAIG is American International Group, a major American insurance corporation.AIG may also refer to:* And-inverter graph, a concept in computer theory* Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization in the U.S.* Arta Industrial Group in Iran...
and General MotorsGeneral MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
. He notes the government currently has a minimal ability to make BP do what the government wants or even report accurately on its actions.