Lessons from the Past The recent major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico‚ from BP’s Deepwater Horizon‚ has brought the use and effectiveness of bioremediation back into the news. Recruiting bacteria and other microbes to break down synthetic waste is an immensely appealing idea. Putting microorganisms to work in this manner is the crux of bioremediation (Alcamo‚ Weeks‚ 2008). The work to clean up the Horizon spill actually started in the 1800’s when night-soil men would go from house to house and
Premium Water Bacteria Petroleum
Dangers of Oil Spills (Article for Environment Awareness magazine) Oil slicks do so much more damage than just the initial havoc we see on the news; the effects can be long lasting. The recent Deep water BP oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico well and truly eclipsed the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 and now has the potential of being one of the largest oil spills on record. Latest official estimates state approximately 4.1 million barrels of oil contaminated the
Premium Exxon Valdez oil spill Oil spill Petroleum
The 2010 BP oil spill that took place on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect claimed 11 lives‚ and is considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the petroleum industry’s history. The spill flowed continuously for 87 days until it was declared to have been contained on 15th July 2010 and finally sealed on 19th September of the same year (BP‚ 2013). However‚ unconfirmed reports indicate that some of the well sites continue to leak (Pulham‚ Hilaire & Fenn‚ 2010). The spill took a physical and psychological
Premium Petroleum Louisiana United States
Air and Water Pollution: The Gulf Oil Spill Stephanie Wolf University of Phoenix ENV/100 Principles of Environmental Science Cyraj El-Bakoush On April 20‚ 2010‚ BP’s oil rig Deepwater Horizon blew up in the Gulf of Mexico‚ killing 11 people and unleashing more than 200 million gallons of oil into the water (Sakashita‚ N.D.). The spill oiled more than 1‚000 miles of shoreline and a study from the Center for Biological
Premium
(NaturalNews) It’s true the almost five million barrels of oil that contaminated the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill was an ecological nightmare. And residents of the area have complained for the last two years that the chemicals dumped into the area as an ill-thought-out solution have made many of them sick. But what about the ocean itself that has been treated as an experimental chemical dump by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and corporate giant BP? Turns out
Premium Petroleum Exxon Valdez oil spill Ecosystem
accountable for all economic retribution financially and environmentally. The oil rig was under contract by BP and according to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 it stipulated that those parties responsible for the rig or facility which oil is being discharged from—is the responsible party held liable for cleanup costs. The conflict revolves around the fact that BP failed to clean-up the oil after seven days of trying to cap three oil leaks in
Premium Oil spill Petroleum Conflict
the largest‚most disastrous oil spill in the United States had begun. The oil leak was caused by an explosion that happened at approximately 10:00 p.m‚killing eleven people and injuring seventeen others. Two days later‚ the rig sank and started to leak oil and gas from the well. After about three months of the well (Macondo) leaking oil‚ it finally got capped off on July 15. Within those three months‚ the well had leaked 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The leak did not stop there
Premium Petroleum Oil spill Valve
British global energy company which is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. As a multinational oil company‚ BP is the UK’s largest corporation‚ with its headquarters in London. BP’s headquarters is in Houston‚ Texas. The company is among the largest private sector energy corporations in the world‚ and one of the six private sector oil exploration‚ natural gas‚ and petroleum product marketing companies. Tony Hayward took over as the Chief Executive officer in May
Premium Petroleum Exxon Valdez oil spill
BP was the ªrst of these companies to change from a reactive to a proactive climate strategy formulation. In 1996‚ it withdrew from the oppositional Global Climate Coalition (GCC)‚ which was characterized as the most powerful lobby organization in climate policy.28 BP then accepted the climate change problem as diagnosed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and gave its support to the Kyoto Protocol. In 1998 BP’s strategy formu- lation developed further in a proactive direction
Premium Greenhouse gas Climate change Petroleum
1. Do you agree or disagree with Tony Hayward’s quote at the end of the case? Was this disaster strictly a BP failure or an industry accident? (One of my biggest mistakes was that I allowed myself to become the lightning rod for hatred and anger.” He went on to say‚ “I genuinely feel that this could have happened to anyone. This is not BP. It is an industry accident.) I mostly agree with Tony Hayward because an accident of that size is a result of a complex combination of mechanical failures‚
Premium Decision making Risk Safety