The Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center (LA BEOC) was activated on April 28, 2010 response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to facilitate offers of assistance to the United States Coast Guard and BP, in the event that their efforts to contain the spill 48 miles off the coast of Louisiana were unsuccessful. The exploration well is located in the Mississippi Canyon Block 252, operated by British Petroleum (BP) and owned by Transocean Ltd.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the rig, resulting in the tragic deaths of 11 workers and many more injured who were subsequently rescued at sea. On April 22, 2010, the rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico, leaving a damaged riser spilling an estimated 5,000 barrels of crude oil into the Gulf every day. This incident has been declared a “spill of national significance” by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a full-scale emergency response plan has been launched by the responsible party – BP – and the U.S. Coast Guard in an effort to contain the oil spill, cap the undersea well, and mitigate the consequences to the gulf coast. Louisiana and other Gulf States stand ready to assist the BP-Coast Guard response efforts when called upon to do so.

For the most current information on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, please visit emergency.la.gov or deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.

For the most recent updates on the oil slick projections, please visit here