Sentence:  The BP Prudhoe Bay <WSD>debacle</WSD> [the Prudhoe Bay oil spill] thus provides but the latest in a long line of reasons why leasing this region of the NPR-A is a bad idea. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences. (from early 19th c.)