On April 20, 2010 the United States watched as over 200 million gallons of crude oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico from the 2010 BP "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill. For three months various efforts were taken to cap the broken well and were finally successful on September 19, 2010. In the aftermath of this disaster the Federal government of the United States searched for not only who should pay the consequences of this catastrophe, but also, a plan to prevent this type of spill from occurring again. The nation also looked for a way to recover and preserve the ecosystem of the Gulf Coast that was tremendously damaged as a result of the spill. At the recommendation of the United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, President Obama created the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.