Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil spill website, hosted by the four GOM Sea Grant programs, provides visitors with access to a wealth of data concerning the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Website content will be continually updated, and visitors should check back often for new and revised information.

The spill involves a deepwater drilling platform approximately 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. An explosion and subsequent fire damaged the rig, which capsized and sank on April 22, 2010, after burning for hours. It is unclear how much of the estimated 700,000 gallons (approximately 16,700 barrels) of #2 fuel onboard burned before it sank. The rig is owned by Transocean and is under contract to British Petroleum (BP).

To report oiled wildlife, please call 1-866-557-1401 and leave a message. Messages will be checked hourly. To discuss spill-related damage, please call 1-800-440-0858. To report oiled shoreline or to request volunteer information, please call 1-866-448-5816.

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Developments | Recovery | Volunteer Opportunities | Economic Value | Human Health | Oil and Wildlife | Maps and Map Services | Tools | Contract Services | Background Information | Additional Data Sources

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[ Info last updated: May 6, 2010 ]

Developments:

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posts online situation updates each evening. For the latest information, visit the site.
• BP Oil Spill Response website
• Gulf States Contact Information for Deep Horizon Oil Spill
• Deepwater Horizon Decision Support (NOAA)
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Fishing Closure in Federal Waters (Claims Information Included)
• Gulf oil spill FAQs

Recovery:

• Oil spill claims
• BP Spill Response Training Registration and Course Schedule
• SBA Offers Disaster Loans to Oil Spill Impacted Businesses
• How to report an oil spill
• Responding to oil spills in coastal marshes
• Recreational boaters contending with the oil spill

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Mobile Bay Natural Estuary Program (Alabama)
• VolunteerFlorida.org (Florida)
• TampaBayWatch.org (Florida)
• Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Volunteer Program (Louisiana)
• Oil spill volunteer registration (Louisiana)
• Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (Louisiana)
• Training and volunteer opportunities (Louisiana)
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Louisiana)
• Pascagoula River Audubon Center (Mississippi)
• Oilspillvolunteers.com (Mississippi)
• Coast Clean-Up Volunteers (Mississippi)
• Gulf Coast Oil Spill Volunteers (Facebook)
• Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research
• Training Marine Oil Response Workers

Economic Value:

• Economic Impacts to Fisheries and Coastal Habitat
• Fish stocks in the Gulf of Mexico
• Florida Ocean and Coastal Economies Report

Human Health:

• Seafood safety
• Impact of crude oil on seafood
• Managing seafood safety after an oil spill
• Seafood Sourcing: Perspective on the Gulf
• Crude Oil Spills and Health (National Institutes of Health)
• Chemical Emergencies (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Oil and Wildlife:

• Gulf of Mexico wildlife
• The effects of oil on wildlife (Wildlife Health Center)
• Effects of oil on wildlife (NOAA)
• Risk to wildlife (New York Times graphic)
• Impact of oil on marine mammals and sea turtles
• Rescue and treatment of oiled animals
• Oil spill response training
• Response and Rescue Plans for Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles

Maps and Map Services:

• Multi-Purpose Marine Cadastre representational state transfer
• 2006 CONUS C-CAP data representational state transfer
• Maps for Oil Spill Response
• Satellite imagery of the oil spill is posted each afternoon on the Louisiana State University Earth Scan Lab’s website. Truecolor and Ch2 images are available.
• Oil spill animation demonstration (Requires GoogleEarth)
• Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System
• Approximate oil locations (April 28-May2)

Tools:

• Multipurpose Marine Cadastre – Supplies baseline information needed for marine spatial planning efforts
• Legislative Atlas – Displays maps of ocean and coastal laws and provides access to summaries of state and federal laws via an interactive Web application
• C-CAP Land Cover Atlas (Beta) – Enables users to view regional C-CAP land cover data and explore land cover changes and trends
• Benthic Habitat Atlas of Coastal Texas – Displays shallow-water habitat for Texas coastal bays in an interactive viewer
• Topographic and Bathymetric Data Inventory – Enables users to locate and learn about the best available elevation data sets for their area
• Coastal Ecosystem Program – Provides data on bathymetry, rigs, pipelines, managed species and oyster habitat for Texas and Louisiana, plus sea grass for the entire Gulf.
• Ecosystem Data Assembly Center
• National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center
• Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO )
• Northern Gulf of Mexico NMFS (NGOMNFS)
• Naval Research Laboratory (IASNFS )
• Gulf of Mexico HYCOM data
• Coping with Technological Disasters
• LSU Resources – Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
• Florida Deepwater Horizon Response
• Commercial Fisheries Water Quality Sampling Methods & Procedures

Contract Services:

• Coastal Geospatial Services Contract – A FAR Part 36, Indefinite Quantity , Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ), Architectural and Engineering Contract vehicle to provide geospatial services

Background Information:

• Basic information about oil spills
• General information about spill response
• Other oil well incidents
• Gulf of Mexico shorelines and coastal habitats
• Oil Spills and the Public (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
• Oil and Nature (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
• Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects
• Oil Spill Dispersant Effectiveness Testing in Large Tanks

Additional Data Sources:

• Coastal Lidar – Lidar data sets contributed by many different entities and groups. The Center standardizes and distributes the data in user-specified formats, resolutions and datums
• Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) Regional Land Cover – A nationally standardized database of land cover and land change information developed for the coastal regions of the United States. C-CAP products inventory coastal intertidal areas, wetlands and adjacent uplands
• National Vector Shorelines – Vector shoreline data from NOAA and other federal agencies
• Spatial Trends in Coastal Socioeconomics – Time-series, geo-referenced demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau for the last four decadal censuses (1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000) as well as data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), 1969 through 2000
• Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) Boundaries (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Dewberry) – Boundaries from a defined set of geographic coastal barrier units located along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island coasts and delineated on a set of maps enacted by Congress
• NOAA Quicklook – Displays data from all affected NOAA water level stations (including weather observations) to aid in determining what areas might be impacted by high-water events.
• MyPORTS – Includes current information from affected Gulf PORTS systems: Current 3 day time series and weather observations . Current speeds and directions of PORTS current meters in the affected area .
• Barrier Island Inundation and Overwash: Application to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• Prince William Sound Advisory Council
• Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council
• Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
• Alaska Sea Grant Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 20 th Anniversary
• Fishermen Fight the Spill of the Exxon Valdez
• Recommendations for an Improved Oil Spill Prevention Regulatory System: Legal Research Report
• EPA Response to Gulf Oil Spill