Every year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1.3 million gallons of oil are spilled into U.S. waters from vessels and pipelines in a typical year. A major oil spill could easily double that amount (Thompson, "The Science and History of Oil Spills"). These oil spills not only destroy thousands of miles of oceans, they also cause billions of dollars worth of destruction to an economy. Oil spills occur when there is an accidental or intentional release of oil during any point in the oil production process. Oil spills are most common when a pipeline breaks, ships collide or are grounded, underground storage tanks leak, or when an oil rig explodes or is damaged (Thompson, "The Science and History of Oil Spills"). Another common, naturally …show more content…
In Somasundaran’s book, Oil Spill Remediation Colloid Chemistry-Based Principles and Solutions, he states, “[Lessons learned] have taught us that conventional mitigation techniques such as booming, skimming, and mechanical recovery cannot be fully relied upon to prevent oil from reaching shorelines and damaging sensitive ecosystems during a large-scale spill.” The most common oil spill cleanup methods involve trying to contain the spill with floating booms that prevent the spill from getting out of control. These are only possible if the spill is accessible within a few hours of happening, otherwise the area of the spill gets too large to contain with even the largest floating stoppers ("Oil Spill Cleanup Methods: How Do You Clean Up An Oil Spill? - Conservation Institute"). When the oil spill cannot be contained, the only options available require speeding up the natural breakdown of oil components. The first method for doing this is adding dispersal agents. These are chemicals that allow the oil to chemically bond with water. This prevents the slick from traveling over the water and increases the surface area of each oil molecule ("Oil Spill Cleanup Methods: How Do You Clean Up An Oil Spill? - Conservation Institute"). The cheapest way to clean oil spills is with biological agents that break down the oil into fatty acids and carbon …show more content…
The explosion killed 11 people while injuring 17 others. Underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was capped on July 15, 2010 (87 days later), an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf ("Gulf Oil Spill"). 16,000 total miles of coastline have been affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. A method of treating the oil spill is in-situ burning or burning oil in a contained area on the surface of the water, which has negative effects on the environment such as plant damage, long-term impacts on vegetation, and residues that are difficult to remove. Responders also used 5.5 million feet of boom, a barrier placed in water, to collect and absorb oil ("11 Facts About the BP Oil Spill"). Over 8,000 animals (birds, turtles, and mammals) were reported dead just 6 months after the spill, including many that were already on the endangered species list ("11 Facts About the BP Oil
April 20, 2010, a tragic disaster struck the Gulf Coast. British Petroleum deepwater Horizon oil rig cracked from three places and raw oil leaking into the sea. .it was considered that over 60,000 barrels of oil a day are mixing with Gulf water and Oil spread over 70 miles to 130 miles into the sea and can be seen from space.
The Ocean Ranger The Ocean Ranger was an offshore exploration oil drilling platform that sank in Canadian waters 315 kilometres southeast from St. John's Newfoundland, on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland on February 15, 1982, with 84 crewmembers onboard. The Ocean Ranger was the largest semi-submersible, offshore exploration, oil drilling platform of the day. Built in 1976 by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it operated off the coasts of Alaska, New Jersey, Ireland, and in November 1980 moved to the Grand Banks. Since it was so big, it was considered to have the ability to drill in areas too dangerous for other rigs.
Clean water involves seclusion of lakes and hoping the acid rain does not reach these pure water supplies. Another major source of contaminating clean water are oil spills and how destructively they blanket the shoreline they come in contact with. Although offshore drilling expeditions contribute some to the devastating outcome, oil tankers are the superior enemies toward the water. One estimate is that for every one million tons of petroleum shipped one ton is spilled. The largest super tanker spill was in 1979 when 3.3 million barrels was spilled off the coast of France. The largest in the United States was the Exxon Valdez in the gulf of Alaska. On the night of March 24, 1989 the 987 foot Exxon Valdez ran aground in the gulf of Alaska spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. With the help of the forceful winds, the slick soon covered about 1,100 miles of shoreline, including many islands in the sound.
Because it is the most highly publicized of the different forms of ocean pollution, oil spills, oil leakages, and general oil contamination are something that we all seem to be aware of. Since the Exxon Valdez incident, the American public in particular has been more and more critical of oil companies.Each year, over 700 million gallons of oil end up in the ocean. Contrary to what you may have thought, most oil pollution doesn't come from tanker accidents. In fact, tanker accidents account for less than 90 million of the g...
Most people believe that one man-made natural disaster would teach us to be better, but we have learned that history repeats itself. The Exxon Valdez oil spill (in 1989) and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or BP oil spill, (in 2010) were both devastating oil spills that shocked the nation. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred due to a tanker grounding. The BP oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. These two oil spills were both disasters and had greater effects in certain categories. In this essay, I will be comparing the cause of both oil spills, the damage/effect of both oil spills, and the cleanup of each oil spill.
Existing methods of cleaning up oil spills consider a mix of dispersants and burning off focused surface oil. Even with spongy drums, there's little or no oil recovery. Most of those techniques could cause the semi-permanent harm to the surroundings because the short-run harm they created. Collecting surface oil with booms and burning it creates vast clouds of dangerous smoke. It additionally leaves untouched, most of the spilled oil that cannot be targeting the surface with booms.
Swift, W.H, . C.J. Touhill, W.L. Templeton, and D.P. Roseman. 1969. Oil spillage prevention, control, and restoration—state of the art and research needs. Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has had an extremely negative effect on the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem. The oil spread across the gulf contaminating any living organism that came into direct or indirect contact with it. The oil cuts off the ability of oxygen from the air to move into the water which directly harms fish and other marine wildlife that require that oxygen. The dispersant that the BP is using to try and break up the oil moves the slick into the entire water column which contaminates the ocean floor which would most likely not have seen any damage if it wasn’t for the use of these dispersants. More than 400 species that live in the Gulf Islands and marshlands are at risk and as of November 2 s...
On the summer of 2010, the petroleum industry was shaken by one of the largest disasters in history known as the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. This resulted in the killing of eleven people, injuring of seventeen and an immeasurable damage to the ocean and the surrounding communities. BP had to immediately respond to the crisis and handle their financial and reputational risks.
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that
There are many different ways to clean an oil spill, because no two oil spills are the same, they vary in location, oil types, and other conditions involved. Depending on the spill, the best method is to leave the oil alone and let it break down by natural means. (University of Delaware, 2004) But, although by far the cheapest method, it cannot be used for large oil spills, such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico. Another way is to use dispersants to break up the oil, this will speed up the oil’s natural biodergration, (University of Delaware, 2004), and dispersants are used by reducing the surface tension to stop oil and water from mixing.
The usual method of cleaning an oil spill would have been to use a dispersant powder to chemically clear the water. However, because of how thick the layer of oil was, the powder barely made a dent. Unfortunately, it took days for the clean-up crew to realize the ineffectiveness of the dispersant,
Surfactants have a nonpolar end and a polar end, otherwise known as the hydrophobic end and hydrophilic end respectively. The hydrophobic end bonds with oily particles while the hydrophilic end bonds with water particles. When water and detergent are mixed together, they cluster and form molecules called micelles. (Reckitt Benckiser, 2012) When the micelles encounter oil particles, they surround the particle and the hydrophobic end, which is the nonpolar end of surfactant, bonds with the nonpolar oil particle while the hydrophilic end, which is the polar end of surfactant, bonds with the water. This breaks down the micelle
The worst imaginable environmental catastrophe that could occur in Maryland has just become a reality. The lifeblood of Southern Maryland's Watermen has been forever affected. The ecosystems of the Patuxtent River and Chesapeake Bay have been irreversibly contaminated. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl Nuclear Accidents have affected the world ecosystems; but the Chalk Point oil spill has reached us here in Southern Maryland. The ethical considerations with generating electricity from fossil fuels, specifically oil, has a profound impact on us all. We all use electricity to make our lives easier and more productive. By using this electricity have we given our permission for the oil companies free reign in order to provide us with the service we demand?? Are we just as responsible for the oil spill as the corporate leaders who run the companies? As citizens we are in a position to develop and enforce regulations to protect ourselves. Do we also protect the environment; or is the environment just something for us to use? These and many other moral dilemmas exist for modern man.
Oil Spills disturb the environment and produce a threat to the animals living in that area. Both ships and refineries release oil into the rivers and oceans which leads to the damage and death of plants and animals (Leggett 25). Exxon Valdez, a famous tanker that split in Alaska, spilled eleven million gallons of crude oil into the oceans, damaging everything around it (Earle 145). A Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and released sixty thousand barrels of oil each day (Hollar 20). World War II ships exploded bombs and released diesel fuel which turned beaches black for months. Moreover, oil engulfs plants and blocks the sunlight from nourishing them. It also smothers animals, suffocating them with a painful death (Leggett 24). Sea otters and seabirds are two of the main animals affected by oil spills (Earle 146). Animals such as deer, bears, and bald eagles died a much slower death because they eat the animals from beaches that were covered in oil (Leggett 39). If humans do not clean up the spilled oil right away, it mixes with the water and becomes much harder to eliminate from the sea (39). Furthermore, oil spills