10 years on, legacy of Deepwater Horizon remains controversial

MONDAY marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark Deepwater Horizon disaster which saw millions of gallons of crude oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico.

The massive spill easily exceeded that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez debacle, the previous worst US oil catastrophe, and resulted in the deaths of 11 people, affected large stretches of US coastline, and killed or harmed many thousands of birds, sea turtles and marine mammals such as dolphins.

Earlier this month, the US National Wildlife Federation released a report asserting that the Gulf still hasn't fully recovered from the environment disaster. Take the example of dolphins, where it is estimated it will take decades still for local populations to fully recover as they struggle with issues like worsened lung disease, abnormal stress responses, anaemia and weight loss.