Failed cleanup of Gulf of Mexico
Due to an accident at BP, a lot of oil unintentionally ended up in the sea near the Gulf of Mexico. In order to ensure that this would disappear more quickly, chemicals were thrown into the water that were supposed to make the oil droplets smaller and speed up the decomposition process. Unfortunately, the chemicals had the opposite effect: the chemicals caused microorganisms to flourish and drive out the microorganisms that were breaking down the oil.
From tourist attraction to monkey infestation
To lure tourists, the Chinese village of Xianfeng wanted to get monkeys to the village. When the monkeys came, it all seemed to go well. However, the project got completely out of hand when the investor died. There were no more financial resources to manage the plan and maintain the monkeys.
Ecological staircase demolished by accident
Volunteers built a staircase covered with plants between the Centraal Museum and the canal in Utrecht. For three years, they worked with all their might on the staircase and the work of art cost 243,800 euros. Now a contract worker from the municipality of Utrecht has accidentally removed all the plants, not realising that it was a work of art.