Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Analysis

On April 20th 2010 an explosion on an oil ridge of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, was the cause of the greatest environmental disaster in history of the United States. This explosion took the lives of eleven men who were working on the ridge, and also ruptured an oil line, which dumped more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill significantly affected the wildlife of the gulf coast, killing hundreds of fishes, birds, and reptile that call the gulf coast home. The spill also affected global supply chain for major industries.

Alford, J. B., Peterson, M. K., Green, C. C. (2014) The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the collapse of the Prince William Sound Herring Stock: A Reexamination of Critical Biomass Estimates. In M.K. Peterson (Ed.), Impacts of Oil Spill Disasters on Marine Habitats and Fisheries in North America. (pp. 144-151). Anchorage, AK: CRC

The harm done to the animals affectively will most like cut numbers in half or even eradicate the species all together. Scientist predict it will require more than a hundred years for the animals to gain back numbers they had in 2010. The oil not only touch anything on the top, there was so much of it every animal within the Gulf of Mexico does

The oil and refined products are a mixture of various hydrocarbons and other compounds whose physical and chemical properties vary; during an oil spill, the composite determines the behavior and impact on the environmental elements such as physical, biological, ecosystem, and the economical impact. During this Case Study I will continue to discuss the characteristics of each affected ecosystem including organisms commonly found in the Deepwater Horizon Spill affected area, potential threats based on their relative location to the spill, and the economic impact of damages in these communities.

The worst environmental disaster America ever faced is the Gulf oil spill which released an approximately of 171 million gallons of oil. Scientists estimate that approximately half of all the oil and nearly 100 percent of the methane gas released from the well stayed within the deep ocean. Estimates of the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf climbed steadily between April and June. The first estimate was 1,000 barrels a day. As of mid-June, that estimate had reached between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. The resulting oil slick covered more than 2,500 square miles, but had largely dissolute by August. It’s estimated that a total of 4.9 million barrels of oil, or 205.8 gallons, leaked from the well of which only 800,000 barrels have been

After two months Macondo well began gushing crude oil, President Barack Obama addressed to the nation from the Oval Office, he said: “Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years.” Through January 25, 2011, there were collected 8,209 birds, 1,143 sea turtles, and 109 marine mammals affected by the spill—alive or dead, visibly oiled or not (Unified Area Command). It is quite apparent that the Deepwater Horizon blowout is both terrible environmental and human catastrophe and it will probably demand not months but decades of nationwide effort to address and recover (Deep water).The specific goal of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for identifying and understanding the economic and environmental consequences of Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to determine appropriate approaches to avoid future disasters.

Until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst oil spill had been the Exxon Valdez spill in 1979. The Exxon Valdez spill also took place in the Gulf of Mexico and dumped around 190 million less gallons of oil than the BP oil spill. The first cleanup barge did not reach the site for 14 hours and by then, nearly 1,100 miles of shoreline had been covered in oil. This was the first oil spill that was responsible for the eye-opening controversy over the safety of deepwater oil rigs. With that being said, the impact of the BP oil spill is still in existence today. The economy suffered tremendously in the Gulf areas. The oil spill on the fisheries industry could total $8.7 billion by 2020, including the un-employment of 22,000 jobs. The spill was also a huge blow to the ecosystem on a global scale. Endangered sea turtles that had usually migrated to the Gulf from Mexico, South America and West Africa died in the spill. Bottlenose dolphins living in Barataria Bay, Louisiana had a 63% lower reproductive season compared to other dolphin species following the oil spill. Finally, the deep-water coral reefs were almost wiped out over an area three times larger than Manhattan. The results of the oil spill are not always readily visible for us to clearly see, but that doesn’t mean that they still don’t exist to this day. Additionally, it has been seven years since the oil spill and until 2015, the future of the two BP employees in charge of the rig at the time of the spill was unknown. However, on 3 December 2015, US federal prosecutors dropped the manslaughter charges against Donald Vidrine and Robert Kaluza, who were the two rig supervisors on the day of Deepwater Horizon explosion. This ended the United States pursuit of criminal charges over the BP employees. But, “The two supervisors still have to face allegations

You probably know that people died, obviously. But did you know that a lot of animals died also? Actually, six months after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, over 8,000 animals were reported dead. They found animals such as sea turtles, birds, plants, fish, and much more. They actually got oil stuck on their fur, it’s a lot harder for them to move.

Oil spills are a worldwide issue- widely known for polluting the oceans, infecting plant life, and killing many different species of animals. In fact, during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, approximately 205.8 million gallons of oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico (“A Deadly…” 2011). Over 82,000 birds, 6,165 sea turtles, and around 25,900 different species of marine mammals were either harmed or killed because of The Deepwater Horizon spill (“A Deadly…” 2011). Not only are oil spills a huge biological issue, the mere production of oil has a negative effect on many ecosystems: contaminating oceans, air, soil, and killing many species of flora and fauna.

“The impacts of previous oil disasters show that wildlife in the gulf will continue to be affected by subsurface oil” The past oil spills are still contributing to the death of mammals in the area of the disaster. The NOAA says, “In total, we found the oil spill has likely harmed or killed approximately 82,000 birds of 102 species, approximately 6,185 sea turtles, and up to 25,900 marine animals including bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins melon-headed whales and sperm whales.” Plenty of animals die every day already from natural causes and overfishing, but oil is causing even more to die at an extreme rate. “The national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had found 32 dolphins in the bay under weight, anemic and showing signs of liver disease. nearly half had low levels of stress hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune functions” The disasters are harming the mammals that live in the area of the spill, not only poisoning them but affecting them in the long-term and eventually adding to the already high number of deaths “... NOAA says 714 dolphins and whales have been found stranded from the Florida panhandle to the Texas state like, with 95 percent of those mammals found dead” Dolphins and whales are being hit hard by oil disaster and they turn up dead even after the oil has been cleaned up. From oil

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been recognized as the one of the worst environmental disasters, if not the worst, in U.S. history. On April 20, 2010, an offshore oil rig leased by British Petroleum’s (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico exploded in a ball of flames on, killing 11 employees. While much of the nation was riveted by the attempts to cap the mile-deep well, the hidden tragedy was the cloud of tens of millions of barrels oil that was slowly creeping toward land. BP and others would work for over a year to clean up the beaches and wetlands affected by the spilled oil. The impact of this was felt by costal wildlife and those who made their business working in the Gulf and along the shore.

On April 10, 2011, an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. This explosion killed 11 crewmembers and caused the rig to sink to the bottom of the ocean. This caused an estimated 180-185 million gallons of oil to flow into the gulf. It wasn’t until July 15, 2010 until the oil was contained and stopped flowing. The Gulf was virtually covered in crude oil. There were many effects from this spill and many of them were environmental. Animals had to swim through this oil and birds that landed in it were no longer able to fly because of the heavy oil on their wings. At least a thousand birds died and hundreds of other animal also perished. The oil washed up onto beaches and caused them to close to the public. Some of the effects were even

The National Wildlife Federation posted an article referring to the April 2010 oil known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in which the author discusses the major impact that the spill had on the Gulf environment. This oil spill had detrimental effects on environment and the cleanup efforts caused an even more harsh impact on the numerous aquatic animals that are native to the Gulf. In the article, ‘The Deepwater Horizon’s Impact on Gulf Wildlife and Habitats’, the author tried to articulate the gravity of the damage caused by the spill and the long-term effect that the spill would have on the Gulf and its population of aquatic animals. The author of the article refers specifically to the whale, sea turtle, and dolphin population, as well

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.

“After the Spill is gone: The Gulf of Mexico, Environmental Crime, and the Criminal Law [dagger]” covers the deep water oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico that took place on April 20, 2010. The most devastating spill to our environment, causing the death of eleven people and three months of oil gushing into our waters harming our environment. There was an estimated 4.9 million barrels (approximately 200 million gallons) of oil spilled. This law review relates to the reading in the Effective Human Relations book, Twelfth Edition, by showing us corporate crime, ethics, morals and whistle-blowing. Environmental and corporate business peaks my interests and is why I chose this review.