Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

INTRODUCTION
Upon the evening of April 20th, 2010, a series of deadly explosions occurred within the oil rig giant, Deepwater Horizon, an immense offshore drilling platform, located 40 miles off the Louisiana coast (Steffy, 2011). These explosions were due to a defective blowout preventer and numerous gas leaks seeping up and through the well to the riser pipe, connecting to the rig, igniting fire. The efforts of attempting to save this flame ridden platform was lost on April 22, 2010, for the rig, Deepwater Horizon, sunk. As the rig’s drilling platform fell into the sea, the riser pipe, leading to the well, was crushed, left crumpled and leaking in several places on the ocean floor (Landau, 2011). Over 205.8 million gallons of crude oil was
spilled along with over 8,000 species and locations within the fragile Louisiana marine and land ecosystem locally affected due to this destructive incident (Benoit, 2011).
The original purpose of drilling this cruel chemical, oil, with such high risks of contamination, is simply for money. The oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, leased by the 4th largest company in the world, British Petroleum, was made to drill and receive crude oil from beneath the depths of the ocean floor. This crude oil is then processed into very high demand goods, such as fuel for various forms of transportation, heating in homes, and plastics (NASA, 2013).
SCIENCE
Oil started developing on the Earth billions of years ago, through land movement and organic matter.
It all started when earth’s crust began to shift. According to NASA (2013), The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, “this movement created spaces between the land called sedimentary basins. These spaces were filled with water, forming oceans and large lakes.” Billions of microscopic life forms, plants, and animals thrived in these basins. Once these plants and animals died, the remains piled up on the basin floor. This organic matter would regularly decay and decompose in the environment, but, when anaerobic conditions are present, conditions where there is no oxygen available, they will be transformed into gases (NASA, 2013). The way this occurs, is through the weight of the future sedimentary layers compressed upon it, eliminating the oxygen present. These sedimentary layers of mud and sand combine with heat within the earth, turning them into rock. As the organic matter is buried deeper and deeper, temperatures can reach up to 100 to 150 degrees Celsius, cooking the organic matter into gooey black soup; oil (NASA, 2013). Oil itself has a very low density compared with many other rocks and fluids, causing it to float or rise above its surrounding formations. Due to this, oil will physically rise through the porous layers of rock, sometimes all the way up to earth’s surface, or when it reaches an impermeable layer (NASA, 2013). This leads to oil naturally seeping
into the ocean, where micro-organisms will thrive upon, or large reservoirs of oil form. These reservoirs were discovered all the way back to 347AD, in the Chinese Empires, but not successfully and modernly drilled until around the 1850s, sparking the crave for oil (Malkamaki, 1999).
Another interesting aspect regarding the substance oil is that it does not mix with water. This is influenced through oils density and polarity. Water holds more molecules than oil, meaning it will always sink below it, and oil will float above. This is why in the ocean you will physically see the oil on the surface of the water, and not hidden below. This arises some problems in itself, through the aspect that is can be easily moved with wind and many other natural forces, distributing this toxic substance widely to other environments. Also, another reason why oil and water do not mix is due greatly to polarity. Polarity means a molecule is positively charged at one end and negatively charged at the other (Why Don’t Oil and Water Mix, 2012). For example, water is a polar molecule. Water molecules are made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom each. On the other hand, oil is a non-polar molecule, it has a shell of negative charges or electrons, surrounding the molecule. Polar molecules only dissolve in polar solvents. Similarly, non-polar molecules only dissolve in nonpolar solvents (Why Don’t Oil and Water Mix, 2012). All in all, when oil and water are forced together, they simply do not mix, due to their density and polarity.
Given this Information, it is clear that solving the problem of a spewing oil well within the ocean is insanely difficult.
The science applied in this stressful situation involved many experts in the field, creative engineers, and resolving mechanisms, involving vessels, dispersed chemicals, and remotely operated vehicles. First, the puncture of the sunken Deepwater Horizon was sealed using robotic aids. Next, a new mechanism, a dome like cap, was installed at the ocean floor for the leak of the well on May 7, 2010 (Landau, 2011). This cap was used to temporarily to benefit the cementing procedures and lengthy drilling process during the relief well operations, by stopping most of the wells oil flow. In addition, the new cap “enabled testing of well integrity and, depending on pressure measurements, could have been used to shut in the well.”(BP, 2015). A long-term solution was finally established, relief wells. Two relief wells, to plug and take stress off the existing well, would be drilled in case one missed the mark. Workers began drilling the relief wells on May 2, 2010 (Landau, 2011). They were completed on August 3rd, finally the workers could begin the “static kill” process (Landau, 2011). According to Kenneth J. Shenkman, the Senior Editor in Area Studies for World Book states, “The relief well intercepted the damaged well about 2 ½ miles beneath the seafloor. Engineers then pumped cement through the relief well, permanently sealing the damaged well.” The well was
announced officially sealed on September 19, 2010, almost 5 months after the incident. Extensive thought was clearly poured into the repair and maximum strive to reduce damage to the ocean was demonstrated, courtesy of the science and innovative mechanisms used.