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Gulf Oil Spill Aftermath Essay

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Case Study 8: Gulf Oil Spill Aftermath
In her case study, the author Emily Ahonen (n.d) makes us revisit the gulf oil spill that took place on April 20, 2010. She begins the paper by giving us a brief background about the Gulf oil spill and how it went on to become the largest spill in the history of U.S. The drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, is believed to have exploded due to “a series of safety, regulatory, and oversight problems” (Ahonen, n.d.). As stated by the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) of 1994, the Gulf spill was declared a spill of national significance after nine days of disaster. The NCP held the responsible party, British Petroleum, accountable for the costs related to response efforts. …show more content…

There were a lot of cleanup workers and volunteers who were working to elevate the chaotic and unsafe situation. Some the things that should be considered when thinking about health and safety of the volunteers and cleanup workers are first and foremost the potential risks in the department that they are working in. For clean up workers, that could be the level of toxic waste that they could be exposed to while in the field. The responsible parties should brief the people who are involved as cleanup workers, researchers, volunteers and even visitors about the possible toxicological effects which could cause damage to their respiratory system, neurological system, as well as cause damage to other functions of the body. Furthermore, since the area was hot and humid, the responsible party should also adopt ways to make clean up efforts easier as well as not over work the hired crew members. In terms of making various considerations to people involved in relief efforts, in my personal opinion, I think the responsible parties and the government should provide better health insurance packages for people working closely with affected area. I think it is imperative to do so because they are the ones exposing themselves to potential health issues both mentally and physically in the

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