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The BP Oil Spill's Impact On Human And Economic Impacts

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The BP oil spill, also known as the deep-water horizon oil spill is one of the worst oil spills in U.S History. On April 20th, 2010, a fire broke out on the platform resulting in an explosion that claimed the lives of eleven workers as well as severely injuring seventeen. Also because of the explosion, an estimated 3.19 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico wreaking havoc on the ecological system as well as the human population that inhabited those affected areas along the coastline. Not only did the deep-water horizon oil spill prove to be detrimental in retrospect to the human and wild life communities, the oil spill also had a negative impact economically as well. According to an article written by David Butler and Edward Sayre at the University of Southern Mississippi, from May-August of 2010 they estimated revenue losses to be about 119,413,000 which is about a 5% decrease from the same time in 2009. Also, according to the article this estimate includes tourism as well as hotels and restaurants in those areas. This paper is intended to analyze the impact of the deep horizon oil spill on the economy. The BP oil spill single handedly ruined several businesses along the coastline. Popular beaches were forced to close following the disaster, which in turned caused tourism to decrease drastically. This took its toll on business owners that were dependent on tourism traffic to boost their business profits. According to an article posted on Boem.Gov in

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