Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

In 2010, an oil spill, now called the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred at the Gulf of Mexico. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil was dumped into the ocean. The oil exposed to the marine life’s environment caused many of the marine life to become sick. Many of the birds would ingest oil while they tried to clean the oil off of their feathers and would cause them to have lung disorders. According to scientist, up to 800,000 thousand birds and 300,000 turtles died as a result. I am here to today to raise awareness on this issue and inspire others to help protect our oceans. I hope that one day, we can restore our oceans to the clean and pure ocean it once was.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused eleven human deaths and approximately two hundred million gallons of oil to be leaked into the ocean over the course of eighty-seven days. In direct result with the oil spill, thousands of sea creatures, aquatic plants, and other sea-feeding animals began

The moral obligations including the legal of the wild and coral life at the location of the disaster need to be addressed. Mr. President of United States administration didn't address the issue several times and skipped to answer the questions of media raising doubts about the damage it created to the wild and coral life. The entire tourism industry along with the fishing industry was completed closed leading to many economic and financial crises in few states of the United States (David, 2013). For days, the animals in the sea, including the fish, dolphins were found on the shores of the Mississippi and Louisiana states and after careful medical review, they were poisoned because of the crude oil settled deep into the ocean. Ecological damage is very hard to measure and it could take few years to properly document the extent of damage created by the oil spill.

19, 20). While it is feasible that some unforeseen circumstances may be to blame, which is consistent with Perrow's theories, the clean-up effort has not prevented the oil spill from reaching land. When the contract was granted to BP, they accepted responsibility for the cleanup of a spill fifty times larger than the one currently plaguing the Gulf of Mexico, yet they still have not shown any firm, pre-meditated plans for the cleanup of the coastal waters. So when Mr. McKay testified that the Transocean blowout preventer "failed to stop the leak", one must wonder how this is in any way significant to the situation at hand (Clayton, 2010, p. 1 par. 3). Rather than shifting the blame to a contractor in charge of the oil rig, it is BP's responsibility to fix the mess now.

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

Wildlife is affected by oil spills in many ways and the severity of the impact is correlated with how much oil was released into the environment, the type of oil, the season and the weather, and tidal energy occurring in the environment of the spill, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). The Exxon Valdez oil spill had a numerous amount of impacts on wildlife habitat and marine systems. The oil caused harm to wildlife through physical contact, ingestion, inhalation and absorption. The oil contaminated plankton such as algae, fish eggs and larvae of various invertebrates, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). Contamination through these variables occurred to fish that rely on these organisms to survive, and larger animals in the food chain that rely on fish that eat these organisms such as bigger fish, birds and terrestrial mammals, and even humans became contaminated through ingestion of these animals, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). Fish were impacted directly through the uptake of oil through the gills, which changed their heart rate, eroded their fins, and affected their eggs. As stated above, it only becomes worse due to other mammals consuming the already contaminated

To explain the adverse effects of oil exposure to sea turtles, we first must know how the sea turtles were exposed, how many were exposed, and to what extent. The DWH spill impacted all five of these sea turtle species through three primary pathways; ingestion, absorption, and inhalation. Ingestion is where turtles swallow oil particles directly or consume prey that have been exposed to oil. Sea turtles could have also ingested some of the chemical dispersants that were added to the GOM. Ingestion of oil may result in bleeding, gastrointestinal inflammation, diarrhea, ulcers, etc. Absorption is when sea turtles come into direct contact with the oil. This absorption through the skin can impede locomotion and diving ability; decreased ability

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).

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 Santa Barbara, California, in 1969, even though the spilled oil was not even very large, thousands of dolphins, seals, and birds were killed (Ivanovich, and Hays, 2008). Moreover, in the Gulf of Mexico, 82,000 birds, roughly 6,165 sea turtles, approximately 25,900 marine mammals, and indefinite amount of oysters, fishes, corals, and crabs have been harmed or killed by the spilled oil. Additionally, the spilled has killed many aquatic plants. ( A Center for Biological Diversity Report, 2008). As a result, vegetation, which are the most essential part of the ecological pyramid, and other animals will be affected negatively by the dangerous impact of the spilled oil, which probably is going to cause some problems in the ecological pyramid. In fact, any defect in the ecological pyramid may become a dreadful problem that occurs an ecological

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.

Oil spills are one of the worst things that can happen to wildlife. For example the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred on March 24, 1989 was the worst oil spill to ever happen in North American waters. A tanker from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska ran into a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. 11 million gallons of oil spilled into the water. The area that the oil spilled into had a large amount of wildlife. In the region

Oil spills can impact the environment greatly. Since the oil boats are on the ocean if the break and start to leak it goes into the ocean where it can harm the ocean and those that make their home in it. “That spill caused an immediate and significant impact to the ecosystem, with sightings of birds and turtles washed up on beaches covered with oil, as well as an increase in the deaths of other marine life” (Sinclair, 2017). The oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico was the biggest since Deepwater Horizon. It caused harm to the ecosystem around it because technology came in so it could pump oil out of the ground under the ocean. There is no way to know the impact that oil spill and really every oil spill has had on the marine ecosystem.

The incident of offshore oil rig explosion in marine environment at Macondo well at Gulf of Mexico leading by British Petroleum(BP), becoming the largest accidental marine oil spill in oil explosion history.Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton are the world's largest offshore drilling contractors and working with the British Petroleum at Macondo well.“The Deepwater Horizon (DWH), an oil rig working for BP on the Macondo exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico, experienced a gas leak while closing out the well and subsequently exploded on the evening of April 20, 2010, killing eleven men and injuring many others” (Petroli, 2014). The New York Times reported that the loss of life and entire oil rig at the Macondo site in 2010 were the result of poor risk management, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, last-minute changes to plans, inadequate well control response and insufficient emergency bridge response training by operating companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the operation of the Deepwater Horizon. According to the BP this accident involved a well integrity failure, which lead to loss of hydrostatic control of the well. it was followed by a failure to control the flow from the well with the blowout preventer (BOP) equipment, which allowed the release and subsequent ignition of hydrocarbons. Ultimately, the BOP emergency functions failed to seal the well after the initial

The BP Oil Spill is the result of a series of events that eventually led to thousands of barrels of petroleum leaking into the Gulf. In early September, BP released a report that analyzed the events leading up to the accident. The report states that the fire was caused by a release of hydrocarbons from the well, and then onto the oil rig (BP Internal Investigation Team). The Deepwater horizon was equipped with failsafe mechanisms in case anything went wrong. The problem is that they all failed as well. Once the rig sank, it caused three breaks in the pipes. That is when the spill occurred. "There were multiple chances to stop this. And they all failed," says Malcolm Spaulding, a professor of ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island (Walsh)