April 16, 2025 — The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, and resulted in impacts to habitats, natural resources, and communities across the Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico). Since then, NOAA has taken the lead on more than 60 large-scale projects to restore natural resources. We work with state and local partners, coastal communities, user groups, and other constituents. Below, we’ll highlight key projects that demonstrate the ways we have made progress towards recovery.
Early Restoration
Restoration work across the Gulf began even as damage assessment was ongoing with a large-scale project to restore part of a barrier chain in an area most severely impacted by the spill.
We worked alongside the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to design and construct the Chenier Ronquille Barrier Island Restoration Project. It improved shoreline stability, restored critical dune features, and created a strong backbarrier marsh platform to support island longevity. The project placed 1.3 million cubic yards of beach and marsh fill designed to prevent island breaching over the 20-year project life. Ongoing monitoring shows that despite severe storm events, the island’s shoreline is intact without new tidal passes. It contributes to coastal protection and restoration in the region.
NOAA also partnered with state Trustees to implement other projects to restore marine resources during the early restoration phase and some of this work continues today. We are:
- Building protective living shorelines in Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama
- Improving our capacity to respond to stranded sea turtles
- Increasing outreach and engagement with shrimp fishing communities to reduce harmful interactions between turtles and trawling gear
We work with state and local partners, coastal communities, user groups and other constituents