Alaska Oil Spill Essay

Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting.

As Drew Griffin states “The federal government estimated 4.2 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, but BP argued in court that it was much lower. A judge ruled BP was responsible for the release of 3.1 million barrels. (Griffin, 2015) Regardless of the amount look what damage it has done and the many lives that are affected by this disaster. Many say for 87 days in a row due to an uncapped wellhead lead to this disaster. The loss of money, family seafood business, town tourist revenue, were affected by the oil spill. As Allbusiness eidotors states “For Voisin and other fishermen, the spill couldn’t have come at a worse time. “Processing plants are idle and we are in middle of spring larval season,”

The oil spill created long term problems for the living organisms that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. The oil covered the feathers of birds, making them unable to float at the surface. The oil killed some of the deep sea coral as far as seven miles away from the site. Mammals ingested the oil, which resulted in some of the mammals having internal bleeding and ulcers. This has also lead to an increase in sea turtles stranding, sick dolphins, and a decrease in population of many marine animals. This disaster stuck during the breeding season for many species of wildlife. “The oil’s toxicity may have hit egg and larval organisms immediately”, which could have wiping out those age classes. Population dips and cascading food web has occurred due to

One of the most recognized disasters regarding hazardous chemicals is the wreck of the infamous Exxon Valdez. After the oil tanker ran aground on Bligh reef in the spring of 1989, millions of liters of crude oil leaked into the Prince William Sound, off the coast of Northern Alaska causing millions of the native wildlife to die. Thankfully, it didn’t seep into the open ocean but the oil harmed not only the local Alaskan wildlife it also harmed the reputation and honesty of big oil corporations such as the Exxon shipping company, the livelihoods of thousands of the local fishermen and the water quality of the Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez

An estimated amount of 206 gallons were let loose in the water.This oil spill has made the records of being one of the largest oil spills that has ever occurred. It happened when an oil well approximately a mile below the surface.blew out. In addition, this caused an explosion on the BP Horizon rig that killed 11 people. Experts made many attempts to stop the oil flow but it took time to reach success. However, every minute passing by is a very crucial one. Within as little as one day 2.5 million gallons were released into the water. The well was capped on July15, 2010. Meaning that the oil leaked for a grand total of 85 days. Resulting in 572 miles of the Gulf Shore being covered in oil. Not to mention the hundreds of animals found and taken into care due to the oil spill. Of course long term effects won’t be able to be further approached until time passes and experts are able to have obtained enough data throughout the years. However, experts have concluded that the damage from this oil spill will not be completely over with until years to come. Still today clumps of oil are being found coming from the shore. The oil is not the only thing to worry about however. Chemicals still remain in the environment and therefore can still affect the nature and can result in a chemical reaction which may be harmful. If parts of the oil are not able to reach oxygen it can just be a big toxic reservoir damaging the environment waiting to cause trouble.The only way to remove things like this is mechanically which only further destroys the habitat. Al in all it is a lose lose

A detrimental event occurred within American borders off the coast of the usually pristine and beautiful landscape of Alaska. Our country’s dependence on oil for energy pushed for the exploration, exporting, and refining of oil in our largest state. The ship released around 11 million gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound waters; it was the largest oil spill in American history at the time. The cleanup was one of the most expensive endeavors, as the efforts cost around $2 billion over the course of an intense four summers (Tweed, 2014). 26 years after the incident, marine and terrestrial wildlife in the Alaskan

Gill, Duane A., J. Steven Picou, and Liesel A. Ritchie. "The Exxon Valdez and BP oil spills: a

The leak after it was fixed was the size of Kansas (Friedman 100). There was 47,829 local, state, and federal responders to help clean up the oil (Friedman 100). There was 9,700 vessels that helped clean up the oil spill which were 6,500 government and commercial vessels and 3,200 vessels of opportunity (Friedman 100). 3.8 million feet of hard boom and 9.7 million feet of soft boom was used during the clean up to clean up the oil (Friedman 100). There was 127 surveillance aircraft used to help with the cleanup (Friedman 101). There was 1.4 million barrels of liquid waste collected and 92 ton of solid waste recovered (Friedman 101). They recovered more than 800,000 barrels of oily water from the Ocean and Coastal areas (Friedman 101). The oil spill effected the fish population by a large amount (Brown 18). The largest US oil spill in history is the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, which impacted ecosystems and residents of the Gulf Coast (Peres 1208). In 3 months over 200 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico (Peres 1208). The BP controlled burned 1.84 million gallons of chemicals to break up the oil (Peres 1208). The clean-up employed several thousand workers (Peres 1208). The

The catastrophe with the Deepwater Horizon was horrible. Eleven people lost their lives that day, and marine wildlife was affected along with other economic issues for anglers and tourism industries. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill had devastating effects on the local environment and on the public perception of offshore oil drilling. Five million barrels of oil over a three-month period flooded the Gulf of Mexico. The Macondo oil spill, which is what it became called, had an overwhelming impact on the environment. Moreover, oil was scattered over 1300 miles of shoreline from Texas to Florida. In an attempt to clean up the spill, there was incalculable damage was done to fish and other wildlife, marshes, and estuaries. As bad as the Macondo

In this century, there are nothing new about human corruption of the earth. However, in this article said that today, scientists has investigated the effects of Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 on Alaskan communities and ecosystems for embryonic salmon and herring. Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska shows that the spill may had much greater impacts on spawning fish than previously recognized because of crude oil can develop hidden heart defects that adjustment for their later survival.

On April 28th, 2010 cleanup crews were rushing to clean up a huge oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. This spill occurred because of an oil rig explosion that took place on April 20th. The oil spill was threatening miles of coast line in four different states, and not to mention marine wild life that live in those waters. This oil spill soon became the worst oil spill the United States had ever seen. There were 126 workers on board the oil rig when it exploded, most of the workers escaped, but eleven were missing but then confirmed dead. The cause of the explosion is being investigated. Since the explosion, experts estimated a total of 210,000 gallons of oil were spilling into the gulf. Experts are also worried about the sea life and how

In 2001, someone fired a rifle at the pipeline, resulting in 300,000 gallons to leak out. Likewise, in 2006, a deteriorated portion of the Prudhoe Bay pipeline resulted in a leak of 270,000 gallons of oil into the area. Furthermore in the Alaskan area, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker leaked approximately 11 million gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound. This massive oil spill killed over a thousand sea otters, thousands of birds, and cost more than $2 billion dollars to recover.

On March 24th 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound Alaska, spilling roughly 10.8 gallons of crude oil polluting over a thousand miles of Alaska’s coast (Gerken, 2014). At its time, it was the worst oil spill in history, lasting for several days. It was caused by the negligence of the captain who was reportedly intoxicated at the time. The oil was very quickly dispersed over a wide area of land because of extreme tidal fluctuations and a storm several days after the spill (http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/152720).

BP is one of the largest company producer in both oil and natural gas in the United States, venturing on exploration and discovery, Deepwater drilling and gas supply chains. On April 20th 2010, 11 men lost their lives after an explosion on the semi-submersible drilling on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig working on the Macondo exploration well for BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The well blowout and subsequent oil spill pumped 3.2 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico the biggest marine disaster in US history. The fire burned for 36 hours before the rig sank, and the hydrocarbons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was closed and sealed. After the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a sea-floor oil

Many scientists blame the world renowned oil company, Switzerland based Transocean Ltd. Transocean did end up paying a costly amount of 18.7 million dollars, and 75 million for damages. Although Transocean payed money to restore the rig, they could not pay back for all of the indirect damages towards fisheries and wildlife. Lucky for Transocean, the government dedicated a trust fund with one tenth of 1% of the price