The document summarizes the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill originated from an oil well 5,000 feet below the surface and was discharging an estimated 210,000-1,100,000 gallons of crude oil per day. Experts feared it would result in major environmental damage by reaching the Gulf coast and impacting fishing and tourism industries as well as hundreds of bird species. The spill grew to cover 2,500 square miles and surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill as the worst oil disaster in US history.