In 2010, there was a huge oil spill near the Gulf of Mexico that we now know as the BP Oil Spill today. The Spill sent about 170 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill killed 11 men aboard the deep-water Horizon. The BP Oil Spill impacted the environment very negatively. There were different types of environmental impact as a result of the Oil Spill, but the two that grabbed my attention the most are the Polluted Air and the Contaminated Food Chain. The first impact that grabbed my attention was the Polluted Air. Because of the Oil Spill, the air around the surroundings neighborhoods was polluted. All the lightest chemicals in the oil that had spill evaporated within hours of the incidence forming air pollution particles. These particles that are in the air poses significant threats to the human health from being inhaled. The chemical found in the particles that was formed is known as Volatile, which has been known to cause respiratory irritation and central nervous system depression (Solomon & Janssen, 2010). The second impact that grabbed my attention was the contamination of the food chain, specifically the food chain of sea animals that lives near the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists found traces of oil in zooplanktons; this could only mean that the sea creature has had contact with the spilled oil. According to the Staff at Houston Business Journal (2012), “Baby fish and shrimp feed on the tiny, drifting zooplankton, and then introduce contamination and pollution to the larger sea creatures in the food web.” With these findings, it isn’t going to take long before the baby fishes become grown and caught by fishermen and before we know it, it’s on our dinner plate. And here we are eating fishes w... ... middle of paper ... ...the action of drilling is going on because so that if the same incident ever happen again, their will be more men to take the first aid action in trying to stop the leak. Also maybe the company should change the type of pipe they are using to engage in transferring the drilled oil because it might be the material used to make the pipe that is weaken and ended up causing the oil company billions of dollars. Works Cited HARTOGS, J. (2013, June 13). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/three-years-after-bp-oil-spill-active-clean-up-ends-in-three-states/ Solomon, G., & Janssen, S. (2010). Health effects of the gulf oil spill. JAMA, 304(10), 1118-1119. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.1254 Staff. (2012, March 21). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2012/03/21/bp-oil-spill-contaminated-food-chain.html?page=all
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.
Many businesses that sell seafood had to cut back on it for the past few months. It has been since April that businesses are now selling shellfish back on the menu for a somewhat reasonable price. A major incident occurred just two days before Earth Day. The incident is well known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or as many others call it, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig along the Gulf of Mexico is an oil-spill that resulted from an explosion that is under contract with BP, leading up to over million barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. This incident has led to many controversies. Arguments in discussion are whether or not we should continue to drill offshore, what exactly went wrong, and why none of the safeties were unable to activate.
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.
These cumulative issues in turn allowed for oil to gather within the oil rig deck thus ultimately setting the rig aflame.Furthermore, Newman later admitted to knowing that Transocean recorded a dilemma in assuring safety with a track record exemplifying a total of four workers being killed in previous 2009 rig accidents. Thomas Roth, a senior Halliburton executive in charge of cementing operations during the period of the spill, confirmed that well design alongside other external factors resulted in “the cement placement to be a job that would have a low probability of success” (Krauss,Meier). Even with conducted stability tests on cement samples and proceeding investigations clearing indicating that the cement was not stable, BP accused Halliburton of destroying evidence of its cement testing in order to continue through with cement placement despite the risks.Finally, under the Clean Water Act, fines could range from $1,100 for every barrel spilled through simple negligence to as much as $4,300 a barrel if gross negligence is
Further research showed that some of the chemicals given to fish pass straight through them and are released into the ocean. Once in the sea, the toxic material does not always dissolve. Instead it floats around the sea polluting the water or will make its way back into the food chain. When aquaculture corporations dump concentrated solutions of fish feces and other dangerous chemicals into the sea, issues begin to arise. The connection with nature is an abusive relationship.
Nelson, A.N. 1971. Effects of oil on marine plants and animals. London: Institute of Petroleum.
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...
Throughout the years the changes on how we handle oil spills have changed. “Oil out of control increasingly meant oil at sea” as said in There Will be Birds (Morse, 2012). The penalties for the fragile balance of life in the defenseless ecosystems of the gulf, and the broader cycles of nature that maintain life in the gulf, are as limitless as they are devastating (Begley, 2010).
One of the primary ways through which humans have caused significant modifications to the wildlife and their habitat is pollution. Pollution results from changes occurring to the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment leading to a harmful influence on wildlife and can cause deaths or an impairment to their health. Marine ecosystems are subject to chemical pollution from sources such as run-off, sewage, radioactive waste, oil drilling, and inadvertent dumping. Dachs and Mejanelle (2010), authors of “Organic Pollutants in Coastal Waters, Sediments, and Biota: A Relevant Driver for Ecosystems During the Anthropocene?,” state that despite the total number of synthetic chemicals not having
Luckily everyone is given a chance to change what they have done. One solution that CNR can attempt is, to manage their oil pipes better by checking them more frequently and notifying any complication immediately. They can also hire more employees to supervise the pipelines and use advanced technology such as detected sirens and cameras to keep a close eye the pipelines. This will create more job opportunities and if everything is well maintained then small leaks will be reported as soon as possible, stopping them from becoming big leaks. But some of the pipes are located underground which means it will be very hard to supervise underground pipelines. To supervise the underground pipelines they will need to create a pathway for the employees or they will need to plant cameras and sirens underground which will cost them thousands of dollars. Another attempt CNR can make is to invest in a research group that will investigate on new oil well technology and a different route for the pipeline where it is less probable to cause a leak. Once a successful investigation is through the company can plan and organize a new route for the pipelines. Having new technology will improve the protection of pipes. But it will take some years to collect enough money to construct new routes and accomplish a proper research. Our reliance on oil based products and services is
“ Effects of Oil Spills on Marine and Coastal Wildlife” Holly K. Ober. WEB. 19 May 2014
Corn, M. Lynne and Copeland, Claudia“The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Coastal Wetland and Wildlife Impacts and Response.”Congressional Research Service
In an article from the website thinkprogress.com by Annie-Rose Strausser, she stated “The people who worked to clean up the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill are at an increased risk of getting cancer, leukemia, and a host of other illnesses, according to a new study released Tuesday in the American Journal of Medicine”. But the residence of the region are also affected by this environmental nightmare which has caused more untimely medical conditions as well as an increase in the morality rate in the
...i. "Environmental Pathways Of Potential Impacts To Human Health From Oil And Gas Development In Northeast British Columbia, Canada." Environmental Reviews 20.2 (2012): 122-134. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.