Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Essay

In 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, causing millions of barrels of crude oil to be leaked out into the Gulf of Mexico. The extensive oil spill created a lot of pollution and far-reaching effects on the tourism industry. The resultant damage to marine wildlife such as fish will continue to be felt for many years to come. Weeks after the event, and while it was still in progress, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill was being discussed as a disaster that will impact global economies, markets, and mining policies. The potential consequences included structural shifts in energy policy, insurance marketplaces and risk assessment, and financial liabilities to be incurred by BP. The law that affected the operation of BP’s business was the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of pollutants in US’s waters (EPA, 2008). Following the oil spill, regulations have been put in place to regulate oil drilling operations. The Obama administration proposed new regulations on offshore oil and gas drilling. The regulation focused on oil and gas drilling companies to use stronger blowout Preventers that have the capability to close an offshore well in case a drilling breach occurred accidentally.

The consequences are horrific, more than a third of federal waters in the gulf were closed to fishing at the peak of the spill, because of the contamination, fish could be toxic and dead. An article from the BP website noted that on the evening of April 20, 2010, the gas release and subsequent explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon rig working on the Macondo exploration well in Gulf of Mexico. The fire burned for 36 hours before the rig sank and the hydrocarbons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was close and

In an article posted by CNN, it is revealed that "BP was ruled responsible for the release of 3.1 million barrels" (Griffin et al). The process of removing the oil is in progress, but there is still a magnitude of oil to be cleaned up. This disaster did not only affect the environment, but it also affected the workers involved. It is also mentioned in the article that eleven workers died. The disaster affected the lives of many people other than the oil rig workers, however. There have been some concerns about the quality of seafood being produced from the area, along with the health effects it had on the community. The New England Journal of Medicine mentions in their article that " Louisiana reported 415 self-identified health problems believed to be related to the Gulf oil spill" (Goldstein et al). The oil spill has had a profound effect on the gulf coast community and will continue to for many years to come. Hopefully, this horrible event can be a lesson for the future, so that more precautions are taken to benefit nature and

The biggest industry that was affected because of the 2010 BP oil spill was the seafood industry. The gulf coast is where majority of the U.S seafood comes from, and the oil from the

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill was the largest spill in history in front of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. This oil spill released about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. This spill not only wreck havoc on the marine life but also the economic players that depended on ocean such as fisherman, tourism, and offshore drilling located along the gulf coast. Along will the spill the oil rig which was named Deepwater Horizon also went up in flames. This proved that the issue went far beyond just an oil rig that blew a line. Since this oil spill had drastic impacts all along the coast, BP which was the most liable for this incident faced criminal charges based on what happened. BP which knew the risks of deep ocean drilling failed to take the necessary safety procedures to reduce the risks of such incident occurring, thus was the reasoning behind placing most of the fault on them and not the other companies. The lack of regulatory oversight led to the issues and cost-cutting procedures opened the rig up to possible malfunctions like the one that occurred. During the spill into the gulf, BP sealed the well with cement which seemed to stop a majority of the oil from escaping the well. BP also recognized that the well was “dead” which was proven wrong when scientists still could conclude was leaking minor amounts of oil into the ocean. This spill not only proved to be harmful to the environment but also

In the 2010, Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been noted as a disaster with far reaching condition sufficient to impact global economies, marketplaces and policies. The damages from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster could be as much as $12 billion which was predicted by some experts. This would affect coastline industries such as Louisiana’s oyster and shrimp industry, which generate about $962 million in annual retail sales .Prior to that it also resulted to the loss of tourism revenues and a complete wrap up of activities such as swimming, fishing, recreation and boating due to the cleanup efforts, beach closures due to the fear of the long term effects caused by the spill. The impact for the locals would be more severe for those who live

The e Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the Macondo well began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April 2010 killed 11 people and caused almost 5 million barrels of oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill covered 68,000 square miles of land and sea and triggered a response effort involving the use of nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant chemicals (Pallardy). Considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) resulted in widespread environmental and economic damage, the exact nature of which is only beginning to be understood (Shultz 59). This paper will address the causes of this unmitigated ecological disaster and discuss steps that need to be taken to prevent a similar disaster from occurring again.

On April 20, 2010 the British Petroleum (BP) licensed Deep Water Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The initial blast killed 11 people, injuring 17 others. Over a period of the next 87 days, over 200 million gallons of oil was pumped into to Gulf of Mexico, polluting over 16,000 miles of shoreline, including the coast of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Deep Water Horizon oil spill is the largest human-caused disaster in U.S. history roughly 20 times larger than the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in March of 1989. The spill had many negative effects on the tourism and the fishing industry. Many businesses such as fishing, oyster harvesting, and charter fishing boats were directly impacted by oil in the water. Following the spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) closed all recreational and commercial fishing in affected waters between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Pensacola Bay, in Florida. With the world being completely dependent on oil it is hard to argue that

The oil also has a physical and physiological effect including irritation, inflammation, or necrosis of the skin, chemical burns, ingestion of oil/dispersants can lead to inflammation, ulcers, bleeding, as well as possible damage to liver, kidneys, and brain tissue. It can also cause disfunction of the immune and reproductive system. The wildlife can become physiologically stressed, their physical condition will ultimately decline, and some may even die. The oil spill has additionally had an extensive effect on the ecosystem as a whole. An ecosystem can be defined as a biological environment consisting of all the organism living in a particular area, as well as the non-living physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact. Experts predict that the ecosystem could require years or even decades to fully recover since there is a chance of biomagnification. Biomagnification occurs once a PBT(Persistent Bioaccumalative substances) have piled up in one part of the ecosystem the substance becomes concentrated from one link in the food web to the next. It can affect entire populations and threaten biodiversity in “insidious, sub-lethal” ways. In addition to the possibility of biomagnification the oil causes

When we look at the effect of the deepwater oil spill on other stakeholders, we see that they were impacted more negatively. There were 11 people killed and 17 were injured. Although the number of people in this group is small, losses of life and health weigh heavily on the scale as we assess the consequences of BP’s decision to forego the back-up switch.

The effect of oil spill is usually calculated in terms of damage on the environment, aftermath on marine species, and effect on the tourism and fishery industries. The impact on human health is less known relatively. The financial costs associated with oil spills are also a factor. Arguably, it is a less serious consequence of an Oil Spill, however the financial costs have the potential to bankrupt an organization. BP suffered major financial loss as a result of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They have paid up to $1.5 billion in an effort to settle various claims and compensation. (BP, n.d)

The BP Oil Spill An Introductory Background - One of the most controversial ecological disasters in recent history focused on multinational British Petroleum and their Gulf of Mexico Operations. The Deepwater Oil Disaster began on April 20, 2010 with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Oil platform, killing 11, injuring 17. It was not until July 15th, however, that the leak was stopped by capping the wellhead, after releasing almost 5 million barrels (206 million gallons) of crude oil, or 53,000 barrels per day into the Gulf of Mexico. It was not until September 19th that the relief well process was complete and the U.S. Government, EPA, and Coast Guard agencies declared the well breach effectively stopped (Cavnar, 2010).

The purpose for my letter is to express my concerns of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred April 20, 2010. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the most recent oil spill and in all probability the biggest catastrophic spill in the petroleum industry. The BP oil spill did not just affect the company, it affected so much more; it had such a huge impact on the birds, whales, and the costal habitats. Six years ago the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out, causing an explosion. Oil leaked from the broken well from mid-April to mid-July, nearly three months, causing more than 200 million gallons of crude oil to swim out onto the gulf shoreline. In addition to the oil, almost 2 million gallons of virulent dispersant was used. The chemical dispersant did not lessen the amount of oil, but broke it into smaller particles, leaving the Gulf of Mexico as a dead zone.

On April 20, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history. As a result, a huge loss of money and life was caused and affected serious environmental damage to wild animals and water pollution. BP was accused of their irresponsibility that it took 87 days before the well was closed and sealed. BP’s shares

Over 8000 animals were reported dead 6 months after the spill, including many that were on the endangered species list (7). Subsequently, seafood prices increased affecting restaurants and supermarkets. People abstained from going to beaches covered in oil, water sports and other aquatic attractions which meant that all organisations involved in tourism such as hotels, tour operators, restaurants and boat rental companies were affected (1). Furthermore, the method of cleaning up the oil by “in-situ burning” (burning oil in a contained area on the surface of the water), had adverse effects on the environment as the burning off of the oil led to mutations and increased mortality due to pollution.