Essay On Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
INTRODUCTION
Due to the very nature of oil resources, the environment is invariably affected. The first way in which the environment is affected by the oil industry is through both the drilling and the transportation processes.
The chemicals used in the drilling can be harmful to the environment, drilling itself poses a great danger, for instance in case of an oil spill (as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill showed), and as the Exxon Valdez disaster so evidently portrayed, transportation can be equally as devastating to the environment.
In addition to this, the actual burning of oil as a fuel creates havoc in the environment, contributing to already controversial problems such as global warming.
Lastly, the remaining virgin forests and …show more content…
It may occur during the drilling process (which was the case of Gulf of Mexico), when it turned out to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. In January 2011 the White House oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the oil spill. They blamed BP and its partners for making a series of cost-cutting decisions and the lack of a system to ensure well safety.
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill remains the justifiable example of how the transportation of oil can suddenly wreak a huge environmental and economic crisis. Eleven million gallons of oil leaked, unstopped, from the ship when it hit rocks in 1989. Initial cleanup, by most reports, took three years and amounted to a cost of over $3 billion. And the sheer numbers of animals and birds destroyed were devastating.
CLEANUP AND RECOVERY from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water, and the types of shorelines and beaches
Due to the very nature of oil resources, the environment is invariably affected. The first way in which the environment is affected by the oil industry is through both the drilling and the transportation processes.
The chemicals used in the drilling can be harmful to the environment, drilling itself poses a great danger, for instance in case of an oil spill (as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill showed), and as the Exxon Valdez disaster so evidently portrayed, transportation can be equally as devastating to the environment.
In addition to this, the actual burning of oil as a fuel creates havoc in the environment, contributing to already controversial problems such as global warming.
Lastly, the remaining virgin forests and …show more content…
It may occur during the drilling process (which was the case of Gulf of Mexico), when it turned out to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. In January 2011 the White House oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the oil spill. They blamed BP and its partners for making a series of cost-cutting decisions and the lack of a system to ensure well safety.
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill remains the justifiable example of how the transportation of oil can suddenly wreak a huge environmental and economic crisis. Eleven million gallons of oil leaked, unstopped, from the ship when it hit rocks in 1989. Initial cleanup, by most reports, took three years and amounted to a cost of over $3 billion. And the sheer numbers of animals and birds destroyed were devastating.
CLEANUP AND RECOVERY from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water, and the types of shorelines and beaches