Deepwater Horizon Explosion
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded causing the largest offshore oil spill in the United States. Oil flowed unchecked for three months and millions of barrels of crude oil were released before the well was capped. The disaster led to thousands of square miles of federal waters closed to fishing and caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and tourism. Escambia County received 97 percent of the oil in Florida and had 52 miles of shoreline oiled.
Other Programs
Programs also funded through oil spill fines not under the RESTORE Act include Natural Resources Damage Assessment, or NRDA, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, or NFWF, and Triumph Gulf Coast.