Monday 24 January 2011

Deepwater Horizon oil spill


Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill - May 24, 2010 - with locator.jpg
The oil slick as seen from space by NASA's Terrasatellite on May 24, 2010.
LocationGulf of Mexico near Mississippi River Delta, United States
Coordinates28.736628°N 88.365997°W
DateSpill date: 20 April – 15 July 2010
Well officially sealed: 19 September 2010
Cause
CauseWellhead blowout
Casualties13 dead (11 killed on Deepwater Horizon, 2 additional oil-related deaths)[1][2]
17 injured
OperatorTransocean under contract forBP[3]
Spill characteristics
Volumeup to 4,900,000 barrels(206,000,000 US gallons; 779,000 cubic meters)[4]
Area2,500 to 68,000 sq mi (6,500 to 180,000 km2)[5]



The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster or the Macondo blowout)[6][7][8] is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for three months in 2010. The impact of the spill still continues even after the well was capped. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.[9][10][11] The spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The explosion killed 11 men working on the platform and injured 17 others.[12] On July 15, the leak was stopped by capping the gushingwellhead,[13] after it had released about 4.9 million barrels (780×103 m3), or 205.8 million gallons of crude oil.[4] It was estimated that 53,000 barrels per day (8,400 m3/d) were escaping from the well just before it was capped.[11] It is believed that the daily flow rate diminished over time, starting at about 62,000 barrels per day (9,900 m3/d) and decreasing as the reservoir of hydrocarbons feeding the gusher was gradually depleted.[11] On September 19, the relief well process was successfully completed and the federal government declared the well "effectively dead".[14]
The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.[15][16] In late November 2010, 4,200 square miles (11,000 km2) of the Gulf were re-closed to shrimping after tar balls were found in shrimpers' nets.[17] The total amount of Louisiana shoreline impacted by oil grew from 287 in July to 320 miles (510 km) in late November.[18] In January 2011, eight months after the explosion, an oil spill commissioner reported that tar balls continue to wash up, oil sheen trails are seen in the wake of fishing boats, wetlands marsh grass remains fouled and dying, and that crude oil lies offshore in deep water and in fine silts and sands onshore.[19]
Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-filled barricades along shorelines, and dispersants were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists have also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface[20] as well as an 80-square-mile (210 km2) "kill zone" surrounding the blown BP well where "it looks like everything is dead" on the seafloor, according to independent researcher Samantha Joye.[21]
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.[23]

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Oil spill


Oil spill


An oil spill is a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil spills include releases of crude oil from tankersoffshore platformsdrilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasolinediesel) and their by-products, and heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily white substance refuse or waste oil. Spills may take months or even years to clean up.[1]
Oil also enters the marine environment from natural oil seeps.[2] Public attention and regulation has tended to focus most sharply on seagoing oil tankers.

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Environmental effects

The oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds, reducing its insulating ability, thus making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. It also impairs birds' flight abilities to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen[disambiguation needed], birds typically ingest oil that covers their feathers, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. This and the limited foraging ability quickly causes dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Hormonal balance alteration including changes in luteinizing protein can also result in some birds exposed to petroleum.[4]
Most birds affected by an oil spill die unless there is human intervention.[5][6] Marine mammalsexposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of Sea otters andseals, reducing its insulation abilities and leading to body temperature fluctuations andhypothermia. Ingestion of the oil causes dehydration and impaired digestions. Because oil floats on top of water, less sunlight penetrates into the water, limiting the photosynthesis of marine plants and phytoplankton. This, as well as decreasing the fauna populations, affects the food chain in the ecosystem.[citation needed] There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-producing bacteria are anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain.

See also


Louisiana Industries Affected by Oil Spill


The environmental effects of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill are bound to be widespread. Environmental agencies and interest groups are already mobilizing to try and contain the oil as best as possible.
In a best-case-scenario, they will be able to keep the oil off the coastline and contained in the gulf. However, it is much more likely that the spread will continue. And, in a worst-case-scenario, will begin to spread up the eastern coastline.
Despite the broad implications that are inevitable, the area most damaged will be Louisiana. Many of Louisiana's biggest industries are already feeling the hurt from this spill (at the time of writing a month old), and will only get worse as time goes on.
This article is going to explore which industries are most at risk.
Industries at Risk
Shrimpers: Shrimping has been a Louisiana mainstay since before the 1800s. They have a long and well established tradition. Unfortunately, one of the first industries to hit panic was the shrimping industry. They realized the fragility of the eco-system surrounding their cash crop and understood that oil would be devastating. This fact was so widely recognized that the state declared an emergency shrimping season a few days after the spill, knowing that all of the shrimpers would need to gather something to sustain themselves in the coming months and maybe even years.
Oyster Farmers: Approximately 4,800 jobs in Louisiana are based around oyster farming, and now they are all in jeopardy. Just like shrimping, oyster farming is done largely through mariculture, which means farming via the sea.
Other Fishing Ventures: With the ocean being so plentiful and so close, LA has come to rely heavily on all fishing industries. This includes other less well known ventures.
Louisiana Tourism Industries: The tourism industry is a vast network of travel agencies, booking networks, hotels, tour guides, and more. Each piece of that elaborate chain will begin to suffer as more and more people avoid the oil-ridden waters off the coast of Louisiana. This will even affect nearby cities if fumes begin to leak past coastlines.
Beach Front Properties and Real Estate: Not only is the property value of LA coastline real estate in short term trouble, the entire real estate industry will have to shift and evolve depending on how long clean up takes and how deeply rooted the environmental affects are bound to be from the spill.
Boat Operators: There are many reasons to own and operate a boat in Louisiana, be it for tours, guiding, fishing, or recreation. All of those owners will have to carefully monitor the damage their vessels receive and cut down on where and when they can actually go out onto the water.
Oil Industry Workers: It might be easy to think of oil industry workers as "the enemy" right now, but they are just people trying to make an honest living. The severe backlash from this incident is likely going to endanger many of the oil initiatives around LA and potentially lessen jobs available.
Restaurateurs: Many restaurants in Louisiana are seafood based. They have long relied on the nearby resources of fish to keep their stock fresh and delicious. Not only are the restaurant owners going to suffer from a lack of stock and increased prices for importing, but also all the individuals working at those restaurants and the people who work the fish "pipeline" that keep the supply meeting the demand.
Implications
As you might imagine, the industries described here are not an exhaustive list of everyone that will be affected. Only time will reveal how many individuals and industries will have to shift dramatically in order to survive (and how many won't survive at all).
If you'd like to learn more about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, explore the new website created by The Hayes Firm entitled Louisiana Oil Spill Lawsuits. It is full of factual information and also serves as a hub for any individuals who have been affected by the oil spill and need to get connected with the attorneys handling those cases.