On 20 April 2010, the Deep Water Horizon (DWH) drilling rig operating approximately 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Louisiana experienced a catastrophic failure that resulted in the release of petroleum (oil and gas) and subsequent explosion and fire, the ultimate sinking of the rig, a discharge of gas and light sweet crude oil from an ocean depth of nominally 5000 feet (1525 m), and the loss of 11 men who were working on the rig. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is BP’s commitment to provide $500 million in funding over the course of 10 years for independent scientific research related to the DWH incident.
The goal of the GoMRI is to improve society’s ability to understand, respond to, and mitigate the impacts of petroleum pollution and related stressors of the marine and coastal ecosystems, with an emphasis on conditions found in the Gulf of Mexico. Knowledge accrued will be applied to restoration and to improvement of the long-term environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico.
To learn more about GoMRI, visit gulfresearchinitiative.org.