Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The world's worst-ever accidental marine oil spill began after an explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 40 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion, which was found to have been caused by faulty cement, killed 11 people on the platform and caused it to sink, resulting in a massive oil leak on the ocean floor, at a depth of 5000 feet. Some 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per day gushed out into the sea. Repeated attempts by the oil company BP to plug the leak failed, thwarted by the depth of the water. Almost 5,000,000 barrels of crude oil were released into the Gulf before the well was finally capped on 15 July." [Furtado: 1001 Days]