What Happened?
In 2004, 28 wells located 11 miles off the coastlines of Louisiana owned by Taylor Wells were destroyed during a mudslide in Hurricane Ivan. The consequences of the natural disaster caused oil to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. Using calculations of average daily flow rate for the past 8 years, Skytruth, an environmental group, estimated that there is an estimation of somewhere between 250,000 and 1.2 millions gallons of oil that has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. Since the disaster, the Coast Guard and Taylor Company have tried numerous methods to clean up the oil. One technique is using three containment domes where oil collects inside the domes and later is extracted by ships. Other methods used is sealing off the wells with cement, and by drilling relief wells. Even though there has been efforts made to contain the oil, the wells have still been releasing oil on a daily basis.