Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was considered an epic industrial catastrophe that began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. At that time, 210 million gallons of oil were spilled and this was immediately followed by an explosion on the rig. The massive amount of oil affected wildlife habitats and marine life from Louisiana all the way to Florida.
To make matters worse, the spill continued while workers spent months trying to stop the flow at its source. An investigation later revealed that BP had cut down on safety before the incident. As a result, BP was forced to pay legal fees and associated fines in addition to clean-up costs that totaled $61 billion.