BP Oil Spill Crisis

The Deepwater Horizon spill occurred on 20 April 2010 and was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 workers and injured 17 more. The drilling rig, located 66 kilometers southeast of the Louisiana coast, left an oil gusher that was finally capped on July 15, almost 2 months later. This was the largest accidental marine oil spill in history and the largest offshore environmental disaster in the United States (Telegraph, New York Times, BBC News). It is estimated by scientists that over 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the ocean, about half of the crude oil the U.S. imports each day and worth $400 million (Popular Mechanics, CBC News). About 1070 kilometers of coastline were contaminated.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded and caused the largest marine oil spill in history. The platform sank about 5,000 feet underwater. The BP oil spill poured 4.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. These oil spills are largely compared but were cause by completely different events. They had similar effects/damage, however.

1.Introduction and Aims The BP oil spill began on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. On April 20, 2010, 126 workers on the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon were in the process of temporarily closing the exploratory Macondo oil well. That evening, an explosion abroad the drilling unit set off a chain of events that eventually led to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon. Eleven crewmembers lost their lives and others were seriously injured, as fire engulfed and ultimately destroyed the rig. It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, an estimated 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previously largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill.

The Oil Spill The BP oil spill happened off the United States coast in the Gulf of Mexico and is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. After the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sunk it continued to leak oil for 87 days until it was capped, which resulted in an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil leaking into the ocean. The Deep Water Horizon was a sem... ... middle of paper ... .... Retrieved 15 November 2013. Dermansky, Julie (20 April 2013). "Three Years After the BP Spill, Tar Balls and Oil Sheen Blight Gulf Coast".

On April 20th 2010 a catastrophic explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico caused what was soon to become one of the most horrendous and controversial issues of 2010. The cause of this dramatic event was uncertain and, therefore, called for an investigation team to get to the bottom of the situation. Through a review of rig audit findings and maintenance records, the investigation team found indications of potential weaknesses in the testing regime and maintenance management system for the BOP. The team did not identify any single action or inaction that caused this accident. Rather, a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces came together to allow the initiation and escalation of the accident.

It is expected that there will be a spill of more than ten thousand oil drums every three or more years (Horton, Jennifer, 1). Oil spills have been defined as inevitable (Climate & Energy, 1). As of now, there exists no truly safe way of cleaning a spill (Climate & Energy, 1). The oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was one of the worst oil spills that has ever occurred (Clean & Energy, 1). The Gulf of Mexico oil spill by British Petroleum is the largest environmental catastrophe in the history of the United States (Clean & Energy, 1).

In addition, the oil and gas industry have changes there practices and are working with the government under new laws and regulation to prevent a future oil spill. On April 20, 2010, an event that became known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred. It is sometime referred to as the BP oil spill, as BP was the company operating on the Deep Water horizon at the time of the spill. This oil spill is considered one of the largest oil spills in history as approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil made its way into the open ocean, reaching as far away as Florida. The oil spills occur due to a combination of system failure and human error.

One year after the worst oil spill in history, a sorry legacy of enduring damage, a people wronged and a region scarred remains (NRDC.org). The BP oil explosion killed eleven employees and spewed approximately one-hundred-and-seventy-million gallons of toxic crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (NRDC.org).The explosion was caused by a blowout preventer failure which was caused by a piece of drill pipe that resulted in the worst oil spill tragedy in American history. The Gulf of Mexico is the focal point of America’s southeastern region’s economic growth. However, the gulf experienced an agonizing vile catastrophe that affected several thousands miles of coastline. The BP oil spill is undoubtedly the worst oil spill in American history due to the grotesque aftereffects of the region.

On April 20th, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig owned by British Petroleum (BP) exploded. The explosion was caused by pressurized methane gas that bubbled up from 18,360 feet below the sea. The explosion killed 11 workers and injured 17 others. Two days after the explosion the oil rig sank and an oil gusher, which is an out of control oil well, at the sea-floor released oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. Over the course of these 87 days the gusher leaked an estimated 205 million gallons of oil and the oil polluted thousands of square miles of ocean water (Kennedy 351, 379).

Tennessee Coal Sludge Disaster What Happened? The largest environmental disaster in U.S. history occurred on December 22nd, 2008 when a 84-acre pit containing toxic coal combustion residue at the Tennessee Valley Authority Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee gave way. According to a report by AECOM, the firm hired to perform the root cause report, a “combination of the high water content of the wet ash, the increasing height of ash, the construction of the sloping dikes over the wet ash, and the existence of an unusual bottom layer of ash and silt were among the long-evolving conditions that caused the ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant” (TVA, 2010). The resulting slide sent a wave of over a billion gallons of sludge out on the 300 acres of land surrounding the Fossil plant, instantly covering it with a 4 foot layering of sludge. The toxic coal combustion residue wave destroyed 15 homes, damaged 43 more homes, took down power lines, ruptured a major gas line, potentially poisoned drinking water supplies, and devastated the local fish population.