The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Oil covered everything: beaches, animals, plants, bottoms of boats. Approximately 205.8 million gallons of oil leaked into the ocean and toward the Louisiana shoreline. To put the amount in perspective, that oil could be used to drive a Toyota Prius around the earth 184,181 times (Repanich). All of this pollution and destruction because of one singular company: British Petroleum. Needless to say, the image of BP was tarnished because of this. What can a company do to come back from such a serious setback? This was the question that was faced by the company in 2010 (when the spill occurred), and is still being wrestled with today. By analyzing BP’s “Commitment to the Gulf” ad campaign, the brand’s desired identity is made very apparent. When it comes to oil, nearly all consumers are involved. However, BP does take specific steps in order to narrow down a target audience when it comes to advertising its product. Despite the hardships faced by BP stemming from the spill, consumers still have an addiction to oil. BP, the fourth largest oil company in the world (“Biggest Oil”), has such a firm hold on consumer society that it is a necessity in today’s consumer landscape. By pushing the brand’s identity to its target audience, BP used branding to overcome a severe controversy and rebuild the image it hoped to convey to consumers.

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

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 April of 2010, the Gulf of Mexico ground to a halt. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon mobile offshore drilling unit resulted in one of the worst environmental and economic catastrophes in history. Eleven members of the crew were killed, many others sustained serious and permanent injuries. A moratorium on drilling lasted long into the following year. Massive layoffs ensued across multiple business sectors. Many commercial fishing vessels could not leave port, and those that did caught far fewer fish. Oyster beds were destroyed and miles of wetlands were marred by oil. At the time, we could only imagine how pervasive the effects would be. Shortly after the explosion, Arnold & Itkin LLP, a Houston-based litigation boutique, which represented

The rig was built by South Korean company Hyundai Heavy Industries. The rig was drilling a 35,050 feet (10,680 m) deep exploratory well in approximately 5,100 feet (1,600 m) of water. The well is situated in the Macondo Prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (MC252) of the Gulf of Mexico, whilst also maintained by Halliburton, and Transocean the rig was majority owned and operated by the British Petroleum. On April 20, 2010, high-pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the drilling riser and rose into the drilling rig, where it ignited and exploded, engulfing the platform. At the time, 126 crew members were on board: seven BP employees, 79 of Transocean and employees of various other companies. Eleven workers were presumed dead, never being found. The Deepwater Horizon sank on the morning of 22 April 2010. The efforts to contain the leak at first were unsuccessful due to miscalculations and misinterpretations of what was required. However, on September 19, 2010 the well was permanently sealed when a relief well was dug into the oil deposit and cement was poured into the oil well. The environmental impact, health consequences, economy and ultimately the death of the 11 workers were the consequent issues that arose with the tremendous release of oil into the ocean. These consequent problems were in part due to negligence as well as BP’s failure to fulfill their corporate ethical duties.

The BP oil spill was one of the worst oil spills to ever happen in the US. There are many factors that caused this horrible spill to happen; to be exact there were eight failures of the oilrig that caused this disaster. The first failure was the cement at the bottom of the borehole was not sealed properly. This caused the oil and gas to start leaking into the pipe leading to the surface of the rig. The second failure was that the valve leading to the surface was sealed improperly with cement. In addition, there were two mechanical valves, which failed to stop the leak of gas and oil. The crew was also to blame because they did pressure tests, which they did not read properly. This made the crew believe the oil well was under control when it was not. The crew also did not spot the leak before the explosion; there was an increase in pressure inside the well fifty minutes before the explosion but the crew did not interpret it as a leak. Next, about eight minutes before the rig exploded, mud and gas began to come out onto the floor of the rig. The crew tried to stop this by activating the blowout preventer, which is at the top of the well, however this caused the blowout preventer to malfunction. The rig had side vents that were suppose to release this mud and gas, but instead it was diverted to a device that separates only small amounts of mud and gas. This device quickly became overwhelmed and flammable gas was sent all over the rig. The alarm on the rig should have sounded

number of species damaged. They estimate that about 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and up to 22 killer whales are killed by this oil spill, not to mention billions of salmon and herring eggs.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was an oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by a faulty blowout preventer this is part of the oil rig that was designed by the workers as an emergency shutdown valve. As a result of this anywhere from 1,000 barrels of oil to 5,000 barrels of oil were lost over the course of 100 days. A blowout preventer is a machine on the oil rig for safety to shut down the flow of oil coming out of the well at the bottom of the seafloor. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill caused a good number of environmental damage as well as killed wildlife and has taken the lives of 11 workers that day. The oil would eventually make it’s way to coastlines (shorelines) of Texas , Florida , Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most infamous industrial environmental disasters ever. On April 20, 2010, a marine oil-drilling dig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, releasing hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This explosion resulted in the loss of human life, massive environmental damage, and widespread damage to the livelihood of people living along the Gulf Coast. The organization with the largest share in the oil drill, BP (Beyond Petroleum), is still facing consequences of this spill and lost millions of dollars as well as national support. The Obama administration also received criticism

It is well known that in 2010 a oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by BP, exploded and sank and caused a continued oil leak that released amlost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil spill in U.S. history (Biello). In an address delivered inJune of 2010, President Obama called the oil spill “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced” (Obama). Given the magnitude of the spill, and the media attention surrounding the issue, the entire topic became an emotional subject and strong opinions were formed regarding the nature of the spill and the correct way to proceed with containment and restoration. Of the many debates surrounding the issue, one which falls prey

On April 20, 2010, the British Petroleum (BP) leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig took an unexpected kick of gas pressure from an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. The release ignited, and through the failure of the blowout preventers progressed into a firestorm. The fire consumed the drilling rig platform, sinking it, causing 11 casualties, and the subsequent release of 4.9 million barrels of oil into in the gulf before the release contained (British Petroleum). The incident is

The biggest marine oil spill in history was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill also known as the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In the interview video Mike Williams describes what happened on the oil rig he was working on. He said that the electricity on the rig got so powerful that the lights got brighter and brighter until they exploded along with his computer. When he tried to leave his station to go and help the engineer and figure out what was going on, he hears a high-pitched sound and the door exploded and launched him across the room. Then he started to crawl his way out even though he could not see and one of his arms was injured, and when he reached another door it also exploded and launched him back against a wall. And when he

One famous example of pollution is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It happened in the Gulf of Mexico and it is the largest oil spill in United States history. It was caused by a BP oil well explosion. This was said to have happened because the managers misread pressure information and replaced drilling fluid with ocean water. According to the co-chair "there was not a culture of safety on that rig".

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 Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing 11 workers and injuring 17. The oil rig sank a day-and-a-half later. The spill was referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP oil spill, Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and BP oil disaster. It was first said that little oil had actually leaked into the ocean but a little over a month later the estimate was 12,000-19,000 barrels of crude oil being leaked per day. Many attempts were made to stop the leak but all failed until they capped the leak on July 15, 2010, and on September 19 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead.” In the three months that it took to finally put a stop the leak, 4.9 million barrels of oil were