2 Years Later: What's Latest on Gulf Oil Spill? Two years have passed since the April 20, 2010, blowout of BP's Macondo well triggered an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and spawning the nation's worst offshore oil spill. After several attempts to cap the well failed, engineers finally halted the flow of oil after more than 85 days, but not before an estimated 206 million gallons of crude spilled. The oil soiled fragile wetlands, stained beaches, killed wildlife and closed vast areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing for time. A series of government probes have spread out the blame for the disaster among London-based BP PLC, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and other companies involved in the doomed drilling project. But plenty of questions remain about the spill's long-term environmental effects. Here are some questions and answers about the current state of the Gulf Coast's tourism, oil and gas and fishing industries, of the region's environment and of efforts to resolve spill-related litigation: A: On Wednesday, BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys presented a federal judge in New Orleans with the proposed terms of a class-action settlement that would resolve more than 100,000 claims by people and businesses who blame economic losses over the spill. They're asking the judge to give preliminary approval to the deal that would be one of the largest class-action settlements ever. The agreement doesn't resolve any claims by the Gulf states or the Justice Department, which launched civil and criminal probes following the spill. A: BP has repeatedly said it accepts some responsibility for the spill and will pay what it owes, while urging other companies to pay their share. The company created a $20 billion fund to resolve many claims out of court. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility paid out more than $6 billion from the fund before a court-supervised administrator took over the claims process on March 8. BP says it has spent more than $22 billion on spill response expenses, including more than $8.1 billion in payments to people, businesses and government entities. A: A presidential commission that investigated the Deepwater Horizon disaster says the Interior Department, which oversees offshore drilling, has taken a series of steps to improve safety and protect the environment from another spill. The commission says the industry also has made improvements, including installation of capping stacks that can be used if there's another deep-water well blowout in the Gulf. But the group's commissioners have expressed disappointment that Congress hasn't done more to improve drilling safety.