The three causes of bps oil disaster just as with goldman sachs and the titanic, hubris, recklessness and arrogance made the gulf spill happen. An explosion on the drilling platform caused the oil rig to begin sinking and as the oil rig sunk, millions of gallons of oil began dissipating into the gulf of mexico with no way to try and stop it. The slow rate of biological degradation of oil at nearzero temperatures has led biologists to suggest that oil spills in the arctic ocean might remain there for periods of 50 years or more. Anthropogenic causes including accidental oil spills such as the recent bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico as well as leaks and spills due to a large variety of human activities related to oil refining, handling and transport, storage and use of crude oil and any of its distilled products. Specifically, this thesis discusses the impacts of oil spills on microbes, marine organisms, human health and revenue. The term oil spill typically evokes images of crude oil pouring out of an oil tanker in the sea due to an accident, but it can be used to refer to any type of oil release. Oil drilling is one of the causes of the oil spill. Distance to the spill, time required to mobilize equipment, the size of the spill, and the roughness of the seas are major factors that influence the use of dispersants pp. To identify the major causes of oil spill within the study area. However, this scenario is rare but most oil spills are due to oil tankers. Oil spill research strategy 1 introduction the environmental protection agencys epa oil spill research program has been in existence since 1990, following the exxon valdez oil spill and enactment of the oil pollution act of 1990 opa90.
Aug, 2016 oil pollution is most common in large water bodies like seas and oceans. Causes are either accidental or due to operational failure. The national academy of engineering and the national research council have released the interim report of the committee on the analysis of causes of the deepwater horizon explosion, fire, and oil spill to identify measures to prevent similar accidents in the. What sickens people in oil spills, and how badly, is. Efforts to develop multiple source control options simultaneously were herculean. Effective oil spill response techniques and prevention. Students will be aware of the dangers of oil spills and will be able to explain why oil spills have such a devastating effect on the environment. Researchers are studying a range of problems, including breathing and blood pressure issues, skin conditions, selfreported symptoms, and. Information recorded includes the location and cause of the incident, the vessel involved, the type of oil spilt and the spill amount. Depending on the magnitude of the spill and its location, the effects can vary, ranging from minimal to serious ones. In some cases, oil spills are caused when wells begin to leak. The spill was caused by an oil gusher when the drilling machines exploded on april 20, 2010.
It was an oil spill in the gulf of mexico, the largest marine oil spill in history. Oil spill lasts for months as solution after solution fails effect cause evidence. From factories, machineries and transportation to electricity generation, crude oil. Hundreds of oil spills occur in nigeria every year, causing significant harm to the. Most often, spilled oil strands on the shoreline and requires cleanup efforts, though care is needed to minimize additional harm that can slow overall recovery. Environmental justice and the bp deepwater horizon oil spill.
Effects of oil spills in arctic waters by karl magnus eger oil in the arctic marine ecosystem originates mainly from two sources. The oil spill off the gulf of mexico was also a big accident. The data held includes the location and cause of the incident, the vessel involved, the type of oil spilt and the spill amount. Oil pollution is primarily a manmade pollution and is a result of human irresponsible activities. Marine pollution types, causes, effects, prevention and. In addition, between 1997 and 2001, nigeria also recorded a total number of 2,097 oil spill incidents.
A single gallon of oil can create an oil slick up to a couple of acres in size. The deepwater horizon oil spill is also called the bp oil spill, the gulf of mexico oil spill, or the macondo blowout. Accidents frequently cause spills as oil is released from. Boat crash causes 120,000 gallons of oil to spill into the. Mysterious oil spill becomes new environmental crisis for brazil. Oil spill a b s t r a c t oil spill pollution, a severe environmental problem which arouses in a marine environment or in the water bodies, has grown into an alarming scale with the increase in oil production and transportation. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext.
Crude oil spills in the environment, effects and some. The devastation of the oil spill on april 20, 2010, a massive offshore drilling rig, known as the deepwater horizon, exploded and set fire. Understanding oil spills and oil spill response pdf epa. A biomedical researcher says that some of the same. Nonetheless, we do have some information about the early ecological damages from this spill, some proxy information for the economic impact of the spill.
Impacts and management of oil spill pollution along the. Very heavy oil can sometimes sink in freshwater, but this happens very rarely. Oil spill dispersant corexit ec9500a and ec9527a informationfor health professionals overview dispersantsare specially designed oil spill products that are composed of detergent. Oil spill response challenges in arctic waters wwf preface the arctic is a final frontier for hydrocarbon extraction and is facing renewed pressure owing to high oil prices, rising energy demand, concern over energy security, and retreating ice. Procedures and safe work practices, design, inspection and quality control. Marine pollution types, causes, effects, prevention and oil spill history posted on july 8, 2019 april 30, 2020 author ashish s comment0 get to know insights of marine pollution like what is it, who is causing it, whom it effects, times when it happened worse and why the situation is so grim. Interim report on causes of the deepwater horizon oil rig blowout and ways to prevent such events. The major focus of this research was on the oil spills near the gulf of mexico. Commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling.
After an oil spill occurs, ecology, human health and economy are major concerns. The dynamics of the ice pack combined with the long life of the oil could allow an oil spill to have a major effect on the albedo in certain regions of the. The biggest offshore oil spill in american history began on april 20, 2010, about 50 miles off the coast of louisiana. May 10, 2010 the three causes of bps oil disaster just as with goldman sachs and the titanic, hubris, recklessness and arrogance made the gulf spill happen. These can reduce the severity of an oil spill and accelerate the recovery of an affected area. Unfortunately, oil spills occur more often than we think. The infamous 1989 exxon valdez oil spill, one of the largest in u.
The gulf study will help determine if oil spills, and exposure to crude oil and dispersants, affect physical and mental health. For instance, oil spills can have a major impact on the temporary animal and fish loss of habitat. Nospill is the only manufacturer to make oil drain plugs with the correct thread length to precisely fit specific engine oil pans. In miledeep water, a bpoperated well blew out, causing the deepwater. Oil spill causes accidents, explosions, defective parts. The pipelines may start leaking due to lack of maintenance. However, efforts for spill containment and recovery are considered to be only moderately effective. The solvent used after the massive 1989 exxon valdez oil spill off the alaska coast, for example, was limonene, which can cause skin inflammation and asthma, said robert emery, vice president for safety, health, environment and risk management at the university of texas health science center at houston. The spill, which occurred near columbus, kentucky, prompted the. Oil spills of all sizes can be treated by the use of undiluted dispersant, which is usually applied by various techniques. Potential impact of the gulf oil spill on tourism prepared for the u. Deepwater horizon oil spill final programmatic damage.
For example, claims and payments against the gulf coast claims facility represent some portion of. However details of the potential biological damage will depend on the ecosystem where the spill occurred. These reports both considered the causes of the blowout but did not. The ongoing oil spill from the blownout well by the name of macondo, drilled by the illfated rig deepwater horizon, has many features in common with another blowout in the mexican gulf that happened three decades ago. When an oil spill occurs, many elements of the environment may be affected. Hundreds of millions of gallons have spilled since the explosion of the rig on april 20, 2010. Summary of information concerning the ecological and. The explosion killed 11 workers and injured 17 people.
Oil spills have many adverse effects on the environment. Given the topic of oil spills, it is no great surprise that a journal like marine pollution bulletin tops the list of highly cited journals by both cites and papers. The nospill magnetic oil drain plug comes in three designs. To determine the environmental impact of oil spill on land and water within the study area. The opa90 authorizes the epa office of research and development ord to conduct oil spill research. Deepwater horizon oil spill thinkreliability, case studies. The environmental problem of oil spill 93 words 6 pages. The hundreds of individuals who spent the spring and summer of 2010 working to stop the spill, under enormous pressure and conditions of. Causes the deepwater horizon drilling rig figure 1. In 1998, 40,000 barrels of oil from mobil platform off the akwa ibom coast were spilt into the environment causing severe damage to the coastal environment. Oil spill occurs due to the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the aquatic environment.
Oil floats on saltwater the ocean and usually floats on freshwater rivers and lakes. Because both of these causes were necessary for the oil spill to occur, they are joined with and. Oil usually spreads out rapidly across the water surface to form a thin layer that we call an oil slick. There are estimates of significant oil and gas reserves in.
Deepwater horizon caused by a blowout killed 11 of. Planning and response considerations but where reef coral species can survive. Pdf oil spill problems and management in the niger delta. The database contains information on both the spill itself amount and type of oil spilt, cause and location and the vessel involved. While large accidents such as the gulf coast and exxonvaldez oil spills receive a lot of attention in the media, it is estimated that hundreds of smaller spills occur throughout the world each year. The importance, uses and overall benefits of petroleum otherwise known as rock oil can not be overemphasized. Effects of oil spills when oil is spilled or leaked into in waterways and the ocean, it spreads very quickly with the help of wind and currents. Marine water is especially affected by this form of pollution. Weathering is a series of chemical and physical changes that cause spilled oil to break down and become heavier than water. President charged the commission to determine the causes of the disaster, and to.
For historical reasons, spills are generally categorised by size oil spill on human health date. Some natural actions include weathering, evaporation, oxidation, biodegradation, and emulsification. As the oil continued to leak out into the open ocean, not only sea life became endangered, human health did as well. The journal lists are populated with many heavyhitters in their field. Pdf oil spill incidents and pipeline vandalization in. Coralline algae and occasional encrusting or lowprofile corals domi. Root causes of fluid spills from earthmoving plant and. Preselected root causes and root cause descriptions were provided as drop down boxes in the spill report form. Oil spill prevention and response policy in california is a dynamic and evolving process influenced by lessons learned from major oil spills in california, around the nation, and in the world, as well as by advances in spill response technologies.
To identify the presence of total petroleum hydrocarbon tph in the environment soil, water. An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum product such as crude oil, refined petroleum such as gasoline, or diesel fuel into the environment. Oil spill is a common fallout of oil exploitation and exploitation in the niger delta region, with an estimated total of over 7000 oil spill incidents reported over a 50year period. Deepwater horizon oil spill simple english wikipedia. At the core of the framework, summarized diagrammatically in figure 1, is a linked sequence of outcomes or consequences that lead from the oil spill to its impacts on society. Watch as noaas ocean service breaks down what an oil spill trajectory is in a oneminute video, giving a peek at how we model the oils path during a spill using a specialized suite of modeling tools, called gnome, our oceanographers forecast the movement of spilled oil on the water surface with the help of data for winds, tides, weather, and ocean currents, they model where the oil is. Using ecofriendly magnetic technology, this will all change. This statistic shows the number of oil spills by oil tankers according to the quantity of oil that was spilled from 1970 to 2019. Apart from oil tankers spilling oil other transportation causes include pipelines that pass undersea. We carry over 500 combinations of thread sizes and patterns and can custom make any thread pitch or size. The bp oil spill of 2010 was one of the largest in history.
Recommendations to prevent oil spills by boat owners, marinas, and boatyards these recommendations stress regular and careful boat maintenance. What sickens people in oil spills, and how badly, is anybody. Recommendations to prevent oil spills caused by human. The aquatic ecosystem, particularly the marines are the most vulnerable cairns and buikema, 1984. The oil spill caused by oil tanker hebey spirit at taean coast in 2007 has been recorded as a big international oil spill accident. Oil spill causes unfortunately, oil spills occur more often than we think. Oil spill volume to number of oil tanker spill incidents ratio worldwide 19702019 causes of major oil tanker disasters by size 19702019 selected oil spills and leaks in the prairie provinces of. In the last 40 years or so there have been major oil spills. Sources of crude oil into some marine ecosystem are listed in table 2. The foremost reason one cleans up an oilchemical spill is to remove the pollutants toxicity from the environment as rapidly as possible so that living organisms can survive. The british petroleum oil spill made history on april 20, 2010. Each spill incident was investigated to determine the root cause or causes for the spill within a period of one week after the event. The human health implications of crude oil spills in the.
Ocean oil spills are among the most commonly depicted and catastrophic forms, though they can also occur on land. To identify the health implications of oil spill on the residents. Although most oil spills are the result of human activities, some result from natural causes. Eleven people lost their lives, and approximately seventeen were injured bp oil spill timeline. Feb 11, 2020 this statistic shows the number of oil spills by oil tankers according to the quantity of oil that was spilled from 1970 to 2019. Despite this, spill experts estimate that 30%50% of oil spills are either directly or indirectly caused by human error, with 20%40% of all spills caused by equipment failure or malfunction. Boat crash causes 120,000 gallons of oil to spill into the mississippi river. Brazils president said the government had a theory of what led to the spill, adding that a foreign country was on the radar. Security system inspections are recommended, as are written emergency procedures and drilling of those procedures. Until now, oil spill cleanup has been unreliable, toxic and wasteful. Additionally, the magnitude of the spill directly resulted from was caused by the blowout preventer bop not sealing the well, as designed, for reasons that are not entirely clear.