Deep water horizon oil spill (Gulf of Mexico)

Deep water horizon oil spill (Gulf of Mexico)

Introduction:

The Deep Water Horizon oil spill also known as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is one of the worst oil disasters that has occurred in the history of the U.S. up till 20 April 2010. The Deep Water Horizon oil spill is operated and owned by an offshore drilling company known as BP and is located on Mississippi Canyon in the Maconda oil prospect. This distressing and disheartening event is known throughout the world. How did it occur, what was the amount of oil dumped in the Gulf of Mexico, how many people died and how many of them were injured and most importantly what was its impact on the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico?

 The following paper focuses on generating a few fast facts about this disastrous oil spill, and in a later section presents  critical thinking about this issue, as to how one can prevent the occurrence of such an issue, which will have a lasting impact for many more years to come.

Fast facts about the BP oil spill:

·         It was the biggest oil spill in U.S. history with almost 200 millions of crude oil  pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for around 87 days

·         It has approximately affected 16,000 miles of coastline including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

·         Even after the capping of gushing oil, it is still washing up on shores, thereby indicating its long term damage to the people and the marine life

·         11 people were injured along with 17 injured during the initial phase of the oil rig

·         The government of U.S. under the rule of Obama has promised to raise $20 billion as the response fund

·         5.5. million of barren land has been used to absorb and collect the leaked oil from the sea

·         The oil spill has killed more than 8000 animals over a span of 6 months &  that include- birds, turtles, dolphins etc.

·         Almost 30,000 people were involved in the rescue operation that included cleaning up of beaches, saving the animals, collecting the oil from the Gulf which covers almost 400 million square miles

The above facts about the BP oil spill help in generating the entire scenario about this disastrous event. Staring from the massive amount of oil dumped in the Gulf of Mexico, to the death of some people on the oil rig and its impact on the marine life of the Gulf clearly indicates that such an event can bring major losses to  mankind, if not handled and taken care of. A single mistake can cost the life of many humans and animals along with polluting the environment. (Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010)

It has been revealed in the latest studies that up till now, the Gulf is till polluted which still has an impact on the marine life .  According to a study conducted by the national wildlife federation, bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles and brown pelicans are some of the major species that are dying in larger numbers than ever before, and this is linked to the oil spill that occurred four years ago from now. (Gulf Oil Spill "Not Over": Dolphins, Turtles Dying in Record Numbers)

Several different organizations, government agencies and the  National Wildlife Federation are in continuous process, to study the impact of the oil spill on the marine life. And it is alarming to know, that the BP oil spill is yet not over; rather it has a long way to go. The oil is still deposited on the sea bed and its gets washed up on the shores as well. There are record numbers of dying bottle neck dolphins and those which are alive showcase weakness, anemia and other health-related issues. It is clear that the future generation of these dolphins would even be affected by this oil spill. The above discussion clearly indicates that a single man- made mistake can cause dramatic harm to mankind, animals and the environment as a whole.

After examining the impact of the BP oil spill, let us throw some light on the response and rescue operation. How did people respond, how was the leaked oil  collected from the sea, where was it dumped, what was its effect on soil, how were animals and mankind  rescued from the ignited oil ring and many more. In order to clean the leaked oil that formed a slick over the Gulf, around 1.8 million gallons of dispersants were  added and that helped in faster metabolism by bacteria, thereby making easier and faster the removal of oil from the Gulf. The amount of effort, technology, manpower etc. that was employed within the rescue operation, could have been put to some constructive work, if this oil spill disaster had not occurred. Such an event caused massive wastage of money, manpower, life along with environmental distortion and biological imbalance.

Conclusion:

 Thus from the above, discussion about the worst oil spill ever faced by the U.S. it is evident that Deep Water Horizon oil-related operations must be handled carefully. Latest technological support along with efficient management is optimum for proper functioning and handling of such an operation, so as to prevent the re-occurrence of any such accidents. It may be possible that the expense of safeguarding the oil-related task may cost high, but undoubtedly the expense of rescuing and responding to such an oil spill would be 100 times more than it was. Hence the best way out is to avoid such instances in future. On one hand, several organization and research institutes are employing the best of their efforts to save the endangered species all around the world, and, on the other hand, such disastrous oil spills kill an enormous amount of the marine and sea life animals. It is really a horrifying and a daunting view, to see a ‘walking dead’ brown pelican dipped all over with the crude oil from top to toe. The best thing that can be done is to avoid the occurrence of any such incidents in future in any part of the world.

Bibliography

Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. (n.d.). Retrieved JUNE WEDNESDAY, 2014, from ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1698988/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill-of-2010/311800/Settlements-and-convictions

Gulf Oil Spill "Not Over": Dolphins, Turtles Dying in Record Numbers. (n.d.). Retrieved JUNE WEDNESDAY, 2014, from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140408-gulf-oil-spill-animals-anniversary-science-deepwater-horizon-science/

OCEAN PORTAL. (n.d.). GULF OIL SPILL. Retrieved JUNE WEDNESDAY, 2014, from OCEAN PORTAL: http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill