Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Disaster

Deepwater horizon BP oil disaster

This is a detailed case study for you to use to exemplify the cost of environmental damage (as well as social and economic) to use in short answer but especially essay questions on pollution management.

Background to the spill http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill - use this link to fill in background information on the oil spill. When and where did it happen? For how long? What were the immediate impacts? Anatomy of the spill - Where did the oil go? http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill-interactive - use this interactive resource to describe where and how the oil spread. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html? hp&_r=1& - use this interactive to create a timeline of key events in the BP oil spill.

As much as 20 percent of the spilled oil may have ended up on and buried beneath the seafloor

Thirty days after the leak, oil began washing up on the shores of Louisiana. currents, tides, weather, wind speed and direction, air temperature, water temperature and presence of ice all affect how the oil spreads and how well cleanup workers can access the spill area.

Impacts of the oil spill: environmental, social and economic http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/gulf-oil-spill-effects-marine-life - watch the video to help summarise the environmental impacts

Summary of key impacts Type of impact Shore/coast - Environmental (consider surface bioaccumulation/magnification - 1000 ocean/deep ocean/coastline/ecosystems) miles of shore

Marshes/estuaries are very complex and fragile ecosystems which are heavily impacted by pollution.

Strong tidal surge carries pollution up river - mix of saline and fresh water.

Higher erosion rates.

impacts on deep-sea corals, fish, molluscs and microscopic plants/animals. Corals are particularly sensitive.

pelicans black with oil, fish belly-up in brown sludge, smothered turtles washed up on beaches

Higher dolphin, seabird and turtle deaths since spill Local communities dependent on jobs and Social (consider oil community/local the ocean. shorefront communities)

Economic (sea fishing industry/oil Shrimp fisheries were closed for much of the year industry/tourism/compensation) following the spill Tourism impacted

Fishing industry reduced - suspended.

Need for compensation. The clean up operation - what techniques were used? Did they work? http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/science-time-crisis-oil-spill-pioneers - watch this video on how environemental teams have learnt to deal with these type of disasters. Also evaluate these techniques - how effective are they? Think of the 3 R’s

Type of technique Details of management Physical Booms - physical barrier which surrounds the surface oil slick, as oil and water do not mix. This stops the oil from spreading. The oil can then be cleaned up from the ocean surface.

Sorbents - materials that suck up or soak up the oil - can be natural or synthetic. Chemical Dispersants - chemicals chemicals that break down the oil into smaller particles that mix with water more easily—to prevent them from forming.

Dispersants may themself be toxic and might have helped spread the oil into ecosystems. Where does most oil ocean pollution come from? http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/peril_oil_pollution.html - not from oil spills!

Conclusion - will this happen again? What are the alternatives?

Discuss below the advantages/disadvantages of continuing with oil as an energy resource or whether there is a viable alternative.

Oil as a resource? - What are the alternatives? advantages/disadvantages for example - http://www.theguardian.com/environme nt/2015/oct/26/morocco-poised-to- become-a-solar-superpower-with- launch-of-desert-mega-project