PORT FOURCHON, LA—On the very spot off the Louisiana coast where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and left the company’s mark on the region forever, BP celebrated the 10th anniversary of its historic, 210-million-gallon oil spill Monday by dyeing the entire Gulf of Mexico black. “Ten years ago today was a landmark in BP’s history—no, in America’s history—and we wanted to commemorate it with a splash,” said former BP CEO Tony Hayward, the event’s keynote speaker, as a 1,500-foot oil tanker released into the gulf an inky black dye, the chemical composition of which company officials declined to disclose to reporters. “So as a tribute we will now blacken these waters from the Florida Panhandle all the way to Texas, lest Americans forget this unique heritage and reach a point where they no longer instinctively recall, with each passing of a BP station along the highway, the greatest marine oil spill the world has ever known. Today, a full decade later, hydrocarbons can still be found in every fish in the gulf—every single one of them—and more than half the area’s dolphins still suffer from lung disease. I daresay that is a legacy more remarkable than any of us could have imagined.” At press time, Hayward extended an invitation to families with small children to come down to a local beach where BP planned to continue the festivities by hosting a traditional turtle-stomping.

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