When Hurricane Ivan knocked over an offshore oil platform off the coast of Louisiana in 2004, oil started leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The company that owned the platform went bankrupt and never had the well capped. It wasn’t until 15 years later that the US Coast Guard hired Timmy Couvillion to use his specially designed containment device to start collecting the leaking oil. But to this day, the leak continues from America’s longest running oil spill.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.