The BP Oil Spill 5 Years After: How Has It Affected You? thumbnail On April 20, 2010, a blowout at the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico sank the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP. Eleven people died. And the wellhead, protruding from the seafloor, spewed millions of gallons of crude into the ocean. That oil spread far and wide, killing microorganisms and larger animals, marring coastlines and damaging the economies of communities along the shore. Debate arose over whether the large volume of chemicals dispersed to break down the oil was doing its own harm or good. Some effects from the spill continue to linger. Just last week the National Wildlife Federation released a report indicating that in 2014 many more dead dolphins than usual were still being found along the Louisiana coast. Another sign that things aren’t back to normal is the decline in […]