Kurdistan Oil Spill
On March 15, 1979, the British Tanker Kurdistan, owned by the Nile Steamship Co. Ltd. of Newcastle, England, was bound from Point Tupper, NS, to Quebec City loaded with 29,662 tons of "Bunker C" fuel oil. At 2:20pm, when situated 50 nautical miles northeast of Sydney, Cape Breton, the tanker, lashed by gale force wind, in ice-infested water, developed vertical gashes below the waterline in the number 3 wing tanks. These tanks, which had a total capacity of 10,000 tons, soon began to leak oil.
Surveyors onboard the Coast Guard vessel Sir William Alexander, which was dispatched to assess the Kurdistan's damage, advised the tanker to slowly proceed to Sydney, the nearest port of refuge. However, a short time later the Kurdistan split in two, spilling 7000 tons of oil from the number 3 tanks into the turbulent water. Surprisingly, the two sections of the vessel remained intact, and neither leaked any oil. In a daring rescue, all of the 41 crew members were removed from the stern section by the Sir William Alexander.
The bow section, floating at a near vertical angle, was impossible to salvage and was with its cargo in over 2,000 fathoms(12000 ft) of water south of Sable Island at the position 41°55.02'N, 60°58.00'W on April 1, 1979.
The stern section, including its cargo, was towed to the Port Hawkesbury Harbor. Eventually 15,300 tonnes of oil was heated and pumped from the stern section into a chartered Gulf Canada tanker at Mulgrave, NS.
The first reports of shoreline oiling came two weeks after the breakup. The east coast of Cape
Breton Island, portions of the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia as far south as Lunenburg County,
and the south coast of Newfoundland were oiled d...
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...of disposal. Representatives from the Nova Scotia Department of Environment selected sites at Hadleyville, Forchu, and St. Peter's on Cape Breton Island for disposal sites. These sites were chosen on the basis of their accessibility, soil characteristics, ground-water levels, and proximity to cleanup locales.
Long Term Monitoring
The shoreline was subjected to many inspection tours, generally by EPS personnel, often in conjunction with members of other agencies such as fisheries officers, park wardens and Nova Scotia Department of Environment staff also provided valuable assistance. Each cleaned area was inspected to determine its suitability from an environmental viewpoint and EPS personnel advised the C.G. when cleanup became environmentally acceptable. Where re-oiling occurred, as it often did, the beach was reinspected after subsequent cleaning.
They grabbed them and started rowing toward shore. The Oiler complained about the rowing, but that didn’t stop them. They weren’t just rowing for their own lives, but the lives of their comrades. The captain made sure to tell the rowers to take it easy, if they have to start swimming for shore they will need all their strength to do so. The boat began to turn it’s nose to the wind, once again.
the North Atlantic waters. At 11:40 P.M. an ice berg was spotted and as the ship made a rapid
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Waste Management Division, 9 July 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. .
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. The government thought it was unsinkable, so they felt that there was no need to train a crew very well.
The Whole Truth Prince William Sound, Alaska (2008) The Whole Truth: History of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Available from: http://www.wholetruth.net/history.htm [Accessed11Feburary 2014]
Strait and Ungava Bay; on the east by Labrador (Which is a part of Newfoundland),
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.
"Oil Imports and Exports - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy." Web. 26 May 2011. .
In fact, the ships involved in the explosion were the Norwegian vessel Imo and the French freighter Mont Blanc. The Imo was heading out the harbor and collided with the Mont Blanc while it was heading in, causing a fire to erupt on the Mont Blanc. Many spectators gathered along the waterfront to witness the event.
In ship breaking process, at first materials such as wooden furniture, electrical goods, motors, cooler etc. are taken from the ship. The scrappers then collect oil residue and lubricants manually from the ship by pumping oil. The refused and non-extractable oil are thrown into the seawater. Finally the iron bodies of the ships are being cut into pieces...
In 1989, Exxon Valdez had a hole punctured in the side of its hull. It spilled about 24 million gallons of oil into the Prince Williams Sound. They were fined over 150 million dollars and settled damage claims. I think they did so rightly. Exxon Valdez did not follow the right regulations and did not reinforce their hulls like they should have. When the spill happened,
Sammarco, Paul W, Steve R Kolian, Richard A.F. Warby, Jennifer L. Bouldin, Wilma A. Subra and Scott A.Porter, BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico, 2013
The Deepwater Horizon was a enormous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 20th, 2010. The spill was around 41 miles long off the coast of louisiana. When it was released by the natural core it traveled and had killed people and injured people's health conditions. Oil escaping the damaged well was approximately 1,000 barrels a day. The oil that had leaked was sealed was a slick extending over thousands of square miles of the gulf.
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.
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing 11 workers and injuring 17. The oil rig sank a day-and-a-half later. The spill was referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP oil spill, Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and BP oil disaster. It was first said that little oil had actually leaked into the ocean but a little over a month later the estimate was 12,000-19,000 barrels of crude oil being leaked per day. Many attempts were made to stop the leak but all failed until they capped the leak on July 15, 2010, and on September 19 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead.” In the three months that it took to finally put a stop the leak, 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the ocean. The spill caused considerable damage to marine and wildlife habitats and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. The White House energy advisor, Carol Browner, goes as far to say that the Deepwater oil spill is the “worst environmental disaster the US has faced.”