Two weeks ago you might not have even known oil was being drilled off the coast of New Orleans. Or you knew, but you didn’t think much about it except when weather issues put a significant dent in your gas bill. And you probably knew who British Petroleum was, but a company named “Transocean” had not crossed your mind.

Not anymore.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico left 11 people missing (and presumed dead) and resulted in 5,000 barrels of oil (or more) being dumped into the Gulf daily. Experts are saying that the impact of the spill could exceed that of the infamous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, where 11 million gallons of oil were released into Prince William Sound, Alaska.