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Why was oil sometimes burned during the Deepwater Horizon cleanup?
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Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Fireboat response crews attempt to extinguish the blaze aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, April 21, 2010.
During the cleanup efforts following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, burning was utilized as a method to remove oil from the open water. After booms were deployed to corral portions of the oil slick, the contained petroleum was siphoned off or burned to reduce the amount of oil remaining on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.1