Due to the world\'s reliance on oil, there have been many oil spills in recent h

Question

Due to the world's reliance on oil, there have been many oil spills in recent history during the transport of oil from its point of origin to its destination. In April 2010, the worst oil spill in the United States' history, if not the world, occurred when the oil drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, located in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded on April 20, 2010. Since that time, thousands of barrels worth of oil has been pouring into the ocean and after 60 days, there was no sign of the leak abating. As a result, we will look at the impact of the Gulf of Mexico 2010 oil spill and its impact on the environment. Please answer the following questions. Use creditable references in APA format.

1. What economic impacts will occur due to the size of BP oil spill and its effect on the environment? Please include both the short-term as well as the long-term impacts

2. What were the human impacts due to the oil spill? Again, look at the immediate impacts as well as the long-term impacts. Should those living in the region of the spill be concerned about their health ten years later due to the spill?

3. What attempts were made by the owner of the oil drilling rig and British petroleum company (BP) to clean up the spill in the Gulf?

Explanation / Answer

1.What economic impacts will occur due to the size of BP oil spill and its effect on the environment? Please include both the short-term as well as the long-term impacts

The impact of the the oil spill caused tremendous negative environmental, social and economical impacts both for the short term and long term. It damaged marine ecosystems, damaged fishermen’s livelihoods and rendered coastal areas lifeless. Oil, is among the most difficult to cleanup. Its viscous nature leads to prolonged persistence in the marine environment, oils have the potential to cause widespread contamination of sensitive environmental and economic resources which will take many years to recover. The long term costs are not determined yet and are likely to be much more. Wildlife conservation groups say the oil could pose a growing environmental disaster.


2. What were the human impacts due to the oil spill? Again, look at the immediate impacts as well as the long-term impacts. Should those living in the region of the spill be concerned about their health ten years later due to the spill?

The terrible loss of 11 workers (unaccounted for after the rig explosion) may be just the beginning of this tragedy as the oil slick spreads toward sensitive coastal areas vital to birds and marine life and to all the communities that depend on them.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/30/oil-spill-could-be-disaster-for-animals-experts-say/

3. What attempts were made by the owner of the oil drilling rig and British petroleum company (BP) to clean up the spill in the Gulf?


The U.S. Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage.[22] After its own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The three fundamental strategies for addressing spilled oil were to; contain it on the surface, away from the most sensitive areas, to dilute and disperse it into less sensitive areas, and to remove it from the water. The Deepwater response employed all three strategies, using a variety of techniques. While most of the oil drilled off Louisiana is a lighter crude, the leaking oil was of a heavier blend which contained asphalt-like substances. According to Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, this type of oil emulsifies well. Once it becomes emulsified, it no longer evaporates as quickly as regular oil, does not rinse off as easily, cannot be eaten by microbes as easily, and does not burn as well. "That type of mixture essentially removes all the best oil clean-up weapons", Overton said.[164]
On May 6, BP began documenting the daily response efforts on its web site.[165] While these efforts began using only BP's resources, on April 28 Doug Suttles, chief operating officer, welcomed the US military as it joined the cleanup operation.[47] The response increased in scale as the spill volume grew. Initially BP employed remotely operated underwater vehicles, 700 workers, four airplanes and 32 vessels.[42] By April 29, 69 vessels including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels were active in cleanup activities. On May 4 the US Coast Guard estimated that 170 vessels, and nearly 7,500 personnel were participating, with an additional 2,000 volunteers assisting.[166] On May 26, all 125 commercial fishing boats helping in the clean up were ordered ashore after some workers began experiencing health problems.[167] On May 31, BP set up a call line to take cleanup suggestions which received 92,000 responses by late June, 320 of which were categorized as promising.[168

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

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