The negative effects of the disaster happened in Gulf of Mexico in 2010
In 2010, unfortunately the world could see one of the biggest marine disasters happened in the history of petroleum industries. It happened in Gulf of Mexico, USA, by BP (Beyond Petroleum) industry. The oil spill flowed for about three months. The explosion killed eleven men and injured seventeen other people working on the platform. The spill of petroleum in that disaster not only caused the death of several men, but also caused a lot of damage in the marine and wildlife in that area. Furthermore, it caused problems to the gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. Scientists also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface as well as an 80-square-mile (210 km²) surrounding the well that was blown. Although on September 19, 2010, the relief well process was successfully completed, and the federal government of USA declared the well effectively dead, a research team found oil on the bottom of the seafloor in late February 2011 that did not degrade. On May 26, 2011, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality extended the state of emergency related to the oil spill. By July 9, 2011, roughly 491 miles (790 kilometers) of coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida remained contaminated by BP oil, according to a NOAA spokesperson. In October 2011, a NOAA report stated that dolphins and whales continue to die at twice the normal rate.
In January 2011, the White House oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the disaster. They blamed BP and its partners for making a series of cost-cutting decisions and the lack of a system to ensure well safety. After its own internal examination, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In June 2010, BP set up a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the oil spill. To July 2011, the fund has paid $4.7 billion to 198,475 claimants. In all, the fund has nearly 1 million claims and continues to receive thousands of claims each week. However, the marine environment still has serious issues nowadays regarding to this disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, it rises the question of what precaution are still taken to minimize the negative effects of the disaster of golf Mexico in the marine environment?
Before focusing attention on the disaster in gulf Mexico, it should be firstly clarified what is environmental pollution. According to Haluzan, Environmental pollution - Definition and meaning, 2009, a good definition of environmental pollution would be the introduction of different harmful pollutants into certain environment that make this environment unhealthy to live in. environmental pollution is happening in many parts of the world especially in form of air and water. The most severe environmental pollution is happening in developing countries of the third world since not only to they lack any form of sustainable management but they also lack of even the basic sanitation. Many developed countries have introduced certain laws to not only regulate various types of pollution but also the laws to mitigate the adverse effects of pollution.
As it was explained the meaning of environmental pollution and its causes above, it is now time to draw attention into the main subject that is the disaster in the Gulf Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is an Ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. According Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research, 2012, it is bounded on the on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf coast of United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico and on the southeast by Cuba. The shape of its basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and filled with sedimentary rocks and debris. It is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through Florida straits between the U.S and Cuba and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan channel between Mexico and Cuba. With this narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. It is approximately 615,000 miles square and almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 660 quadrillion gallons and it was formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics. However, on April 20, 2010, the deep water horizon oil platform, situated in the Mississippi Canyon about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, suffered a catastrophic explosion. It sank a day-and-a-half later. Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research claims that although initial reports indicated that relatively little oil had leaked, by April, 24, it was claimed that approximately 1,000 barrels of oil per day were issuing from the wellhead, about 1 mile below the surface on the ocean floor. Moreover, it stated that on April 29, the U.S government revealed that approximately 5,000 barrels per day, five times the original estimate were pouring into the gulf from the wellhead. The resulting oil slick quickly expanded to cover hundreds of square miles of ocean surface, posing a serious threat to marine life.
BP admitted its involvement on the deepwater horizon missed key warning signs in the hours before the explosion aboard the oil rig, but an internal investigation pit much of the blame on other companies involved in the well according to Goldenberg, 2010.
BP was accused of attempting to pass on the blame for its conclusion that Transocean, the rig owner and Halliburton, which carried out cement work, shared mush of the responsibility. As Goldenberg stated, Mark Bly, the oil company’s head of safety and the leader of the investigation, admitted that BP onsite managers could have prevented the catastrophe had they picked up warning signs of a breach of the cement seal at the bottom of the well, as well as unusual pressure test readings, only moments before the explosion. He told to reporters in Washington that given everything that came before, there probably should have more risk assessment and they probably should have been more careful. Therefore, because of this lack of irresponsibility from the men working in the platform in that day, many people died and the marine environment became polluted.
The National wildlife federation, 1996-2012, mentioned that scientists are still assessing the effects of the estimated 170 million gallons of oil that flooded into the Gulf after the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig. They found that more than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill. They also stated that the long-term damage caused by the oil and the nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants used on the spill may not be known for years.
They point out about the immediate and long term impacts because of the disaster. According to the National wildlife federation, in the following months the Gulf oil disaster occurred, wildlife managers, rescue crews, scientists and researchers pointed many immediate impacts of the oil impacting wildlife such as oil coated birds' feathers , causing birds to lose their buoyancy and the ability to regulate body temperature, mammals could have ingested oil , which causes ulcers and internal bleeding, sea turtles were covered in oil and dead and dying deep sea corals were discovered seven miles from the Deepwater Horizon well. Scientists also claim that although oil is no longer readily visible on the surface, it is not fully gone. They have found significant amounts on the Gulf floor, and the oil that has already washed into wetlands and beaches will likely persist for years, that mean the long term impacts of this disaster. They are: Unbalanced Food Web, which the Gulf oil disaster hit at the peak breeding season for many species of fish and wildlife. The oil’s toxicity may have hit egg and larval organisms immediately, diminishing or even wiping out those age classes. Without these generations, population dips and cascading food web effects may become evident in the years ahead. Another impact is the decreased Fish and Wildlife Populations. Scientists will be watching fluctuations in wildlife populations for years to come. One more impact is the decline in Recreation. The Gulf Coast states rely heavily on commercial fishing and outdoor recreation to sustain their local economies. According to NOAA, commercial fisheries brought in $659 million in shellfish and finfish in 2008, and just over 3 million people took recreational fishing trips in the Gulf that year.
As it can be seen this disaster caused a lot of damage not only in marine environment but also in our lives. The local economy in that area decreased because the area was contaminated, no fish around that area and the wildlife became very poor. However, many companies tried to help and solve that problem by using various techniques. According to Toscano and Bukszpan, 2010,they wrote about several ways to clean up the Gulf oil spill such as Surface Dispersants, that are sprayed by boats, aircraft and workers on the shore. They pull apart oil particles suspended in water, reducing the oil slick to droplets that can be degraded by naturally occurring bacteria; Controlled Burns, where a fireproof boom corrals leaked oil into smaller, denser pockets that can be ignited remotely from the air and burned off. The process of burning removes large portions of oil from the water's surface, keeping it away from the shoreline; Booms and Skimmers that are used to collect oil in concentrated areas, while skimmers separate the crude from the water. Therefore, it can be said that the oil industries are still working to clean up all the oil spilled in that area and make the used of these techniques to have a successful result.
To conclude, caring about the environment we live in is an important issue for every human. The disaster in Gulf of Mexico just showed how people are careless about it. Not only in the oil industries but also in other industries do not give enough attention to the environment and to the environment of other human beings. It is true that humans are imperfect beings. They commit mistakes, but when they are in presence of the responsibility of not putting the lives of other human beings in risk, they must be really careful and responsible.
In this paper, it is shown in detail what happened in Gulf of Mexico, when it happened and how it happened. It can be read that it was lack of responsibility from the people working in that day. Moreover, it shows the effects caused by this disaster and its consequences. Furthermore, it shows the techniques that are being used to reduce the effects caused in that area since it is not completely clean as some authors claim. Therefore, it can be said that, as humans, people should be more aware and care about the environment they live because as the National wildlife federation stated, a healthy environment is prerequisite of healthy life for people, and fighting pollution is definitely the best way to keep our environmental healthy.
