Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the evening of 20 April 2010 disaster struck at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig when a blowout caused by a surge in methane gas from the oil well exploded engulfing the platform. For the next 87 days, BP engineers tried to staunch the flow of crude oil gushing out of the well on the ocean floor. An estimated 184 million gallons were spilt, 18 times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez, making it the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in US history.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Kirstie Wark. You're listening to the BBC World Service as we reflect on the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the reunion.
0:10.0	The Deep Water Horizon on fire, with all persons off the vessel, a person in the water.
0:15.0	All matters request to give a sharp lookout
0:17.0	assisted possible.
0:19.0	On April the 20th, 2010, an explosion tore through the Deepwater Horizon
0:28.0	drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
0:31.0	Eleven crew members died and others were seriously injured as fire engulfed and ultimately
0:36.7	destroyed the rig.
0:38.9	For 89 days, oil gushed uncontrolled into the sea in what was to become the largest
0:45.0	environmental disaster in American history.
0:48.0	The Deepwater Horizon rig was owned by drilling company Transocean
0:52.0	and under contract a global oil company
0:55.0	BP. Operating in 30 countries BP was then extracting over 4 million barrels of oil a day.
1:04.0	10% of that came from the Gulf of Mexico.
1:08.0	But the company had a tarnished reputation for safety.
1:12.0	Five years earlier in 2005, an explosion at their
1:16.8	Texas City plant killed 15 people and injured 180. At the center of a sprawling 1,200 acre complex, the seat of the explosion.
1:27.0	The blast could be heard for miles around shaking buildings in the area.
1:31.0	The first priority to find the dead and injured is unclear
1:35.4	just how many casualties there are. This is the heartland of Texas oil country.
1:40.8	There are numerous facilities here employing their own tactical
1:44.2	response units including on-site firefighters and emergency medical team.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.