Oil Spill Response
Abstract
This paper describes equipment and techniques for responding to oil spills. Various techniques for the containment, cleanup and recovery of oil spills are examined; advantages and disadvantages of each are considered. Along with providing insight for oil spill response, this paper discusses environmental factors which can contribute to the success or failure of a cleanup operation.
Introduction:
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
Oil spills, no matter large or small, have long been of concern to pollution control authorities in this country. Due to its destructive nature, once an area has been contaminated by oil, the whole character of the environment is changed. When it has encountered something solid to cling to, whether it be a beach, a rock, the feathers of a duck or gull, or a bather’s hair, it does not readily let go (Stanley, 1969). By its nature o...
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... Issues Resources Series 5 (61): 18-20.
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“ Effects of Oil Spills on Marine and Coastal Wildlife” Holly K. Ober. WEB. 19 May 2014
In our internal analysis of the merger between Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable (TWC) we looked at the internal strengths and weaknesses of the acquired company. By analyzing these strengths and weaknesses we determined that Comcast Corp. proposal to acquire TWC will have potential benefits. Comcast Corporation is already a giant, owning the nation’s largest cable distribution network and TWC is the second largest cable distributor serving roughly 12 million households. A combination of the two companies is said to generate multiple pro-consumer and pro-competitive benefits (Grimes 1).
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...
Gerstein, J. (2010). The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill by the Numbers. The Daily Green. Retrieved
Besides the accidental spillage affecting severe damage to the environment and then causing harm to humans, there are direct impacts on human health from oil. Problems suc...
Ejikeme, Anene. “The Oil Spills We Don’t Hear About.” The New York Times 4 June 2010. Print.
April, 20th 2010; The Gulf of Mexico was exquisite, marvelous, and teeming with life. An ominous and enormous drilling rig cruised across the sea. The vessel was collectedly searching for oil. The crew found a massive oiling spot, buried underneath the ocean. The crew hastily begins drilling without safety precautions, ignoring local wildlife and habitats nearby. After eliciting oil from underneath the ocean; the crew recklessly begun siphoning cement into the gaping hole. Suddenly, a vociferous boom arises from the ocean floor; the malodorous scent filled the air, as heaps of oil drifted to the surface. This oil polluted oblivious animals, looming coral and trees, and alluring shores; turning the once exquisite coast into a mung, oily marsh. Do you want more oil-based catastrophes such as the BP Oil Spill, to continue ratifying the environment?
In 1995, an important event marked a victory for the national GreenPeace organization, and for humans alike. The Brent Spar oil installation was not allowed to be dumped into the ocean. The importance of this decision lied in the fact that there were over 600 oil installations that would someday expire just as the Brent Spar had. When the decision was made to not allow the dumping, it set a precident that the other installations would not be allowed to be dumped, either.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, BP 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Sean Edward Paquette, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Hartford, Connecticut and Professor Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete, Ph.D
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.
Offshore oil drilling has always been a notorious subject of debate due to the positive growth it can bring to a country’s economy and simultaneously bring detrimental effects in a marine environment. The largest issue regarding crude oil pumping offshore is the high risk of tremendous damage to marine ecosystems and depleting resource, additionally many modern economies count on crude oil as an effective power source and its growth in the financial market. Historically offshore drilling has had its share of enormous oil spills into many bodies of water such at the Lakewood Gusher spill, the Gulf War Oil Spill, Odyssey Oil Spill and unfortunately many more(Cooper,1992). These date as far back 1967 when Scilly Islands was documented as the first
The author of “Short-term Effects of an oil spill on marsh-edge fishes and decapod crustaceans” Agatha- Marie F. Roth and Robert W. Dicky author of “FDA risk assesment of seafood contamination after BP oil spill” both agree on the fact that oil spills harm marine ecosystems. In Roth's article she explains that the interaction of oil, decapods, and crustaceans in spatial and temporal ecosystems is damaging not only to the environment but also to the organisms that live there (565 Roth). This example from Roth’s article conveys the fact that there is an effect to marine ecosystems. The unknown however is the severity of the damage caused by oil spills, which both Roth and Dicky agree upon. Unlike Roth, Dicky is more focused on the risk this poses to human health rather than the ecosystem. Dicky explains that there is a health risk posed to humans that consume fish that have been in contact with oil and have retained hydrocarbons from the oil. He discusses a research case by the FDA where they did an
For more than 200 years before the Indian Mutiny of 1857, there had been a British presence in India. They began as merchant ventures and their holdings on the land were relatively small. Over the years they had expanded, creating forts for protection and larger trading stations. Eventually, to make certain that there would be stability and a successful trade business, Britain deployed many of its armed forces there and also raised forces of natives, thus becoming an active power in 18th Century India. Sometimes by their design but also sometimes by accident, the area of British control began to increase. Their expansion lasted until nearly the entire sub-continent was apart or effected by the empire by the year 1857.
Although bioremediation can be used for many sources of contamination such as pesticides, gas sites, landfills and more, oil spills are a large source of pollution for our oceans. The environment is constantly being polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons due to tanker accidents, offshore drilling, pipeline leaks, and from cars whose oil gets washed down ocean drains when it rains (Margesin et al., 2007). In 1979 there was an offshore drilling spill in the Mexican coast releasing 400 thousand tons of oil. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill leaked over 14 thousand tons of oil into Alaskan waters (Swannell et al., 1996). In 1991, Iraq intentionally “spilled” over 14 million tons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf. In 2000, there was an oil spill from pipelines in Guanabara Bay releasing more than one thousand tons of oil. In November 2002, the Prestige sank to the bottom of the ocean after bre...
Students have found cheating methods that have been going undetected by teachers and cheating detectors. Teachers and school administrations have identified the need to fight the problem of cheating, which has been increasing at Avery Community College. I have identified, from different literature, that most of the cheating students include the English as a Second Language students, the hopelessly deficient learners, and the rich lazy kids. I have also realized that educators have failed in most occasions to combat cheating by accepting flawless assignments from students who have problems participating in class assignments. In order to fight this problem, I am making the following recommendations to Avery Community College: