The Gulf Oil Spill

It was caused when methane gas from the well shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform then ignited and exploded. The explosion then led the rig to burn, with the resulting fire unable to be extinguished 2 days later it sinked leaving the well gushing causing the largest oil spill in history (as seen in Fig. A in attachments). Some estimates placed it in late May or early June 2010 as the largest oil spill in history. Flow Rate Technical Group estimated the flowing of barrels of crude oil per day at 35,000 to 60,000.

An oil spill of 4.9 million barrels, which happened in 2010, created not only turmoil for the environment, but caused the economy to take a great hit from the loss of an important raw material. Transocean were the owners of the oil rig drilling on behalf of BP, who were the ones at fault for the spill. This event caused a stir in both the government and non-governmental organizations, because of the extensive damage that it caused. Federal investigations were put under way to determine the factors that caused the spill and once the investigation was concluded several environmental groups began to target the company to portray them as negligent. BP became the sole recipient of both the government and environmental organizations attacks, therefore requiring them to rethink their social responsibility and be used as an example for future environmental changes.

Jervis, R. & Jones, C. (2010). Oil Spill Takes a Toll on Tourism on Gulf Coast. USA Today. Retrieved February 16, 2012, from http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2010-06-25-1Aspill25_CV_U.htm. The Shores of Recovery.

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.

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".

Transocean and BP carried out investigations to determine the cause of the explosion. The chief executive of Transocean, Steve Newman, stated that the explosion had occurred due to a failure of the casing or/and the cement and added that without a failure of one of those elements, the explosion could not have occurred. Both investigated the type of cement used in the well, BP investigators concluding that the problem was the nitrogen-foamed cement that had been used, but instead of takin... ... middle of paper ... ...ing about $118,000 in costs. Works Cited Black, R. (2010, August 10). Gulf oil leak: Biggest ever, but how bad?.

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). The oil even washed up on Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama shores, which were 50 miles away from the site of the leaking (McNutt 3). This oil spill was also the first to be characterized as a Spill of National Significance (SONS) by the U.S. Government. Though the government was involved in the BP oil spill, 10 days passed before they took any action (Kennedy 379). In this essay I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks to having the United States Legislation involved in the cleanup and prevention of oil spills based on their actions during the 2010 BP Oil Spill.

On April 20th in 2010, the deepwater horizon drilling platform of BP PLC at the Gulf of Mexico in American got blowout and burnt, which had sunk 36 hours after that with 11 persons killed and 17 persons injured. On April 24th, the oil wells out of control began to leak oil lasting for 87 days, about 4.1 million barrels of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, the pollution of which spread to coastwise 5 states. This became the worst oil spill in America history, so it was said to be a national disaster of America. The accident resulted in not only casualties, but also serious oil leakage and environmental pollution event. The blowout and the oil spill is rare in oil and gas development history, for its difficult oil spill block, huge volume of oil leak, wide influence range, and the consequence is very serious:1.

Unfortunately many lives have been cut short or seriously injured as a result. My research will focus on the 2005 Texas City Oil Refinery Explosion. I will attempt to look into the ethical implications that surrounded this disaster before and after the event and suggest what BP could have done to prevent the incident then and in the future. What Happened? “On March 23, 2005, at 1:20 pm, the BP Texas City Refinery suffered one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history.

The discovery of crude oil in the United States occurred in the early nineteenth century. Since its discovery, there have been both positive and negative events due to this black raw material. One major negative thing that has taken place, and continues to happen today, is oil spills. These can occur in nature, but mainly, the cause of oil spills can almost always be linked to humans. As the Office of Response and Restoration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Department of Commerce state, “Oil that spills into rivers, bays, and the ocean are caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, and storage facilities.