Deepwater Horizon: Work forging ahead to restore wildlife 15 years after largest oil spill in US history

U.S. environmental organizations and scientists have reflected on the work undertaken to restore wildlife and understand the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on nature.

April marked the 15th anniversary since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, taking the lives of 11 people and injuring another 17. For months, more than 100 million gallons of oil flowed into the Gulf, resulting in what is perceived as the largest marine oil spill in American history.

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, three funding streams were created as a result of the disaster: compensation for injury/damage under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), civil penalties administered under the RESTORE Act, and a criminal settlement administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through its Gulf Environmental Benefits Fund.

As a result, federal and state agencies came together to form the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustee Council. After studying the effects of the oil spill, the Council claims to be undertaking actions to restore the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico) to the condition it would have been in if the spill had not happened.

In mid-April, the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustee Council provided an update on their efforts to restore natural resources across the Gulf using the settlement funds from the oil spill. The participating states are Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

In the 15 years since the spill, Trustee implementation groups have approved more than 300 projects to restore injured Gulf resources, with a combined estimated cost of $5.38 billion. The organization claims to have made significant progress restoring resources, targeting recreational use, water quality, living coastal and marine resources, as well as wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats. 

Restoration projects for wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats are said to be ongoing across the Gulf. Efforts to evaluate and restore resources and marine habitats in the Gulf are underway, including new projects for marine mammals, deep-sea habitats, fish, and sea turtles.

Many of the projects cover several aspects, since projects that restore coastal habitats may also benefit wildlife, improve water quality, enhance recreational opportunities, and mitigate the effects of storm events. Additionally, funding is often combined with other sources to accomplish more than would be possible with settlement funds alone.

One of the most prominent projects in this regard is the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation project in Louisiana, described as the largest marsh restoration effort by acreage in the state’s history. The restoration of over 2,700 acres of marsh along the southern shore of Lake Borgne is targeted, using 13 million cubic yards of dredged material from the lake.

In addition to providing a natural buffer against hurricanes and storms threatening southeastern Louisiana, the restored marshland will also strengthen the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS), developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the Greater New Orleans region.

The Council collaborates with other governmental and non-governmental agencies. Working with the U.S. Navy, the organization carried out a sea floor observation and sampling project, while agencies such as Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy were the Council’s partners on several land acquisition and nutrient reduction projects.

As restoration planning has progressed through the years, the Trustees have developed strategic frameworks for birds, marine mammals, oysters, and sea turtles, as well as the monitoring and adaptive management manual.

“We remain committed to restoring the natural resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. As we implement restoration projects, it is imperative that we manage them well and monitor their success through our monitoring and adaptive management processes, to inform planning of future projects.

“Restoration does not happen overnight, but through careful design, successful implementation, strong partnerships, and robust monitoring, we are confident that the wetlands, coastal and nearshore habitats, water quality, living coastal and marine resources, and recreational use will be restored,” highlighted the Trustee Council.

Additionally, the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) reflected on efforts and ongoing projects to ensure the health of the Gulf Coast. Their scientists were said to be among the early responders to understand the spill. In the years that followed, they developed research and education initiatives related to the event.

“One of the lasting lessons from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is how rapidly science can build knowledge in the face of disaster,” said Dr. Jessie Kastler, Director of the USM’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) Marine Education Center (MEC).

“On April 20, 2010, we knew a fair amount about oil spills—but no one knew what to expect from 134 million gallons of oil gushing from the seafloor, 5,000 feet deep, over 87 days. Yet within a decade, scientists had published over 1,000 peer-reviewed articles detailing how the oil behaved and how it impacted the species and habitats it touched.”

Between 2016 and 2020, USM researchers contributed to at least 75 publications focused on oil spill impacts on coastal and nearshore living resources, exposure to oil and hypoxia, and microbial responses.

More recently, USM scientists participated in collaborative efforts focused on seafloor mapping, studying residual impacts, and restoring habitats, particularly coral reefs. Dr. Leila Hamdan, professor and associate vice president for research, contributed extensively to deep-sea habitat studies and restoration science.

“This spill marks a point in time where our knowledge about the Gulf grew on a massive scale out of necessity, but also out of dedication to an environment that inspires minds and touches lives. Every one of us has a story of who we were both before and after the spill, how it changed us, and how it drew us closer to the Gulf, and each other as a community,” said Hamdan.

The Mississippi-based RESTORE Act Center of Excellence (MBRACE), led by GCRL Director, Dr. Kelly Darnell, is collaborating with Mississippi communities, private, state, federal, and research university entities to support long-term research initiatives relevant to state resources to understand ecosystem status and trends.

The Deepwater Horizon Memorial Fellowship Program was created by MBRACE to honor the individuals from Mississippi who lost their lives in the explosion. The program has supported ten students from across Mississippi.