On April 20, 2010, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and causing an estimated 250 million gallons of oil spill to spill into the Gulf. As BP struggled to stem the leak, oil washed ashore along the shoreline from the fragile Louisiana wetlands to the white sand beaches of Florida.
The spill is considered the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Thousands claimed to suffer the ill-health effects related to direct exposure to with oil, the chemical dispersant corexit, or from inhaling fumes form insitu oil burns. Fish, shrimp, and crabbers are stifled by a moratorium, corporate and political corruption, and the apparent lack of government oversight of the oil and gas industry. Gulf Coast residents are often cited for their resiliency, though for some, being described as “resilient” is starting to get old.