The Environmental Effects Of The BP Oil Spill

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.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred because “oil from the well shot up and out of the drill column under high pressure, extended on the drilling rig and exploded (wikipedia)”. The rig set on fire and later sank. BP, Transocean, along with government agency employer, all worked hard to avoid further spread of the oil.

How did the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 affect our economy and environment, and what does the future hold, with regard to the environment, oil drilling, and sustainability?

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

Hedonism is that good is pleasure and bad is pain. Happiness is the highest thing of good. There are some good and some bad things that come out of hedonism. In this case the BP oil spill had both.

BP has experienced several disaster events in their history that has damaged their reputation with the community. Most of these disasters have ended up costing the communities and the environments within them the most. BP is taking a stand against global warming to find alternate means of energy that will not be hurtful to the environment as well as maintaining a role in the clean-up of the spill areas (Thorne, 2010). With the fluidity of the Gulf of Mexico environment, we may never know the scope of the devastation caused by the spill. However, BP is doing what they can to clean up the environment affected by the spill in the Alaskan waters. During the winter months, BP sends a team to Alaska to continue the clean-up efforts and return

Eleven people died and seventeen were injured (Friedman 13). The people died and got hurt when it exploded (Friedman 13). An examination of primary and secondary sources will reveal the historical significance of this event.

Lutra canadenis, river otter, in the Prince William Sound, Alaska encountered major effects for the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Duffy et al. 1994). Lutra canadenis consume marine fish and marine invertebrates which makes them unique from freshwater otters and inshore otters (Bowyer et al. 1995). L. canadenis are terrific species to display pollution effects on mammals (Duffy et al. 1994). It was noted by, Duffy et al. that river otters in the areas located in the oil spill had a decrease in body weight and the levels of haptoglobin in the blood was elevated. Duffy et al. discovered that the river otters in the areas affected by the oil had a higher level of haptoglobin, aspartate aminotransferase, and interleukin which indicated that there was

On April 20, 2010, 41 miles southeast of the Louisiana Coast, the largest man-made oil spill in U.S. history occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The offshore oil rig known as Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean and under contract with British Petroleum (BP) exploded. The tragedy took the lives of eleven men. The event caused an estimated amount of 4.9 million barrels of oil to be released into the Gulf of Mexico. To honor the brave men and women whose heroism would help save many on board there was a movie

In this century, there are nothing new about human corruption of the earth. However, in this article said that today, scientists has investigated the effects of Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 on Alaskan communities and ecosystems for embryonic salmon and herring. Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska shows that the spill may had much greater impacts on spawning fish than previously recognized because of crude oil can develop hidden heart defects that adjustment for their later survival.

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

BP oil spill is ranked as the largest environmental disaster in the world history. As the oil from BP spill washes ashore, people on Gulf Coast are suffering huge damages they have never met before. The U.S. government estimates that up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day are spewing out from the damaged BP drilling rig to Gulf of Mexico. It has ruined the shoreline, killed animal and sea life, threaten the ecosystem and harmed the tourism and fishing in Louisiana. After the spilling happened, US government and BP has been struggling for plugging the hole deep under the water which is known as Top-kill, but failed.  Right after the leak happened, the Obama administration has claimed that BP alone has to take the whole responsibility of the oil

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an estimated 1.3 million gallons (4.9 million liters) of petroleum are spilled into the U.S. waters from vessels and pipelines every year. A major oil spill could easily double that amount. The recent BP oil spill is estimated to take 25 years to clean up (2035). Oil spills usually happen when people make mistakes, equipment breaking down, or natural disasters such as hurricanes. Oil floats on saltwater (the ocean) and usually floats on freshwater (rivers and lakes). Very heavy oil can sometimes sink in freshwater, but this happens very rarely. Oil spills take a long time to recover because of the damage it causes and the only available resources we have. One way that most oil spills are cleaned

Everybody is affected by oil spills… including the person reading this. People as well as animals are either killed or seriously injured every time a spill occurs. The leading cause of oil spills is careless mistakes caused by people and equipment malfunctions. “As of 2013, 10,000 (oil spill) incidents are recorded (due to tankers) (Roser 6) As a result, freshwater oils spills pollute the environment and come with nothing but negative side effects.

The spill flowed from the Deepwater Horizon rig, lasted 87 days, and released 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. My heart reached out for those who were affected, and I questioned how something so catastrophic could occur in what seemed to be a secure operation, so I began to research it myself. To my surprise, I found that a similar event occurred in 1988 due to inadequate safety procedures on a rig situated off the coast of Scotland, named Piper Alpha. The Piper Alpha crew attempted to use a pipe without proper maintenance being finished. This produced a gas leak that eventually ignited, causing a series of several explosions, catching the platform on fire, and finally sinking the derrick. If the Deepwater Horizon crews applied what should have been learned from the 1988 explosions there is a high probability that 2010 could have been avoided