3. The Scope of Disaster
The BP Deepwater Horizon rig
drilling into the Macondo oil field a
mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico
exploded and sank. Eleven
workers on the rig were killed. The
collapse of the rig and drill pipe
unleashed the largest marine oil
spill in history, 4.9 million barrels
(207 million gallons), only about
50 miles southeast of the
Mississippi River Delta.