"Current estimates suggest that the Deepwater Horizon (DH) resulted in the release of approximately 4.4 million s ± 20% (7.0 × 105 m3) into the northern over a 3-month period during the summer of 2010 (Crone and Tolstoy 2010). The leak was a result of a deepwater rig explosion on 20 April 2010 due to methane gas release after drilling an . An attempt to activate a safety feature to prevent a blowout failed. After burning for 36 hr, the entire platform sank to the seafloor. Because of concerns over seafood safety, on 2 May 2010, the (NOAA) initiated closures of federal waters to commercial and recreational fishing; Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and eventually Florida subsequently instituted fisheries closures in state waters, in coordination with the (FDA) ... By 21 June, closures covered approximately 37% of the Gulf of Mexico (225,290 km2), extending east from , Louisiana, to (NOAA 2010b). The well was capped on 15 July, and on 19 September, relief wells were completed that permanently disabled the well."