John Maas spent years buying and outfitting a 17-foot aluminum boat called the Superskiff 1 so he could take customers fishing for sea trout and flounder in the Gulf of Mexico.
But before the Mississippi captain could make his first charter trip in 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew up 120 miles (193 kilometers) to the south, killing 11 people and sending many millions of gallons of oil into the sea.
As for many along the Gulf coast, the disaster changed Maas’ life. Fishing stopped when oil contaminated the water, so he used his boat to help clean up the spill. It was nasty work under oppressive, humid heat in oily water and around the chemical dispersant Corexit deployed in massive quantities to break up oil.
Maas said the Corexit smelled like burning brake fluid and caused his eyes to water and skin to burn. “You were coughing and things like that. It’s like tear gas almost,” he said in an interview.
Taylor Swift 'calls out Kadarius Toney' on The Tortured Poets Department song about Travis Kelce
Bond denied for 4 'God's Misfits' defendants in the killing of 2 Kansas women
The U.N. rights chief says eastern Congo's escalating violence is being forgotten by the world
A neglected burial ground for migrants on Greek island of Lesbos has been given a drastic overhaul
Meghan Markle models 'love like a mother' t
Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai producing. An election nigh. ‘Suffs’ has timing on its side
Meghan's fruity flop? Only THREE unfamous faces out of 50 chosen jam
Sweeping gun legislation awaits final votes as Maine lawmakers near adjournment
An appeals court dismisses charges against a Michigan election worker who downloaded a voter list
Nursery worker accused of killing a nine
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can be disciplined for suit to overturn 2020 election, court says
Owner of ship in Baltimore bridge collapse asks cargo owners to help cover salvage costs