Health effects of oil spills and implications for public. Impacts and management of oil spill pollution along the. The deepwater horizon oil spill also referred to as the bp oil spill, oil leak, or oil disaster. Viscositytemperature relationship for the four crude oils in table 1. Oil gushed into the gulf of mexico from a deep ocean well. The effects of oil spillage on aquatic environment in ilaje community, nigeria 20 the year 2000, about twenty four 24 cases of large crude oil spillages were recorded around the world including south africa when a bulk carrier called treasure carrying about 1,400. In 1998, 40,000 barrels of oil from mobil platform off the akwa ibom coast were spilt into the environment causing severe damage to the coastal environment.
Students will be aware of the dangers of oil spills and will be able to explain why oil spills have such a devastating effect on the environment. An oil spill occurs somewhere in the world almost every day of the year. Recommendations for australian government commission of. Oil spill cleanup operations may cause more harm to a fragile coastal marsh environment than the oil itself. Approval of the yellowstone river 2011 oil spill restoration plan in january 2017, the state of montana and u. The gulf study will help determine if oil spills, and exposure to crude oil and dispersants, affect physical and mental health. Pttepaa as the owner and operator of the leaking well. In 2019, two oil spills occurred that involved tankers leaking. Oil spill research strategy 1 introduction the environmental protection agencys epa oil spill research program has been in existence since 1990, following the exxon valdez oil spill and enactment of the oil pollution act of 1990 opa90. It was further found that kenya has a draft national oil spill response contingency plan.
Montara oil spill wwf input to australian government commission of inquiry page 17 of 62. Oil spill simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Oil spills, 197175, gulf of mexico outer continental shelf by elmer p. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling. For months, the energy company bp tried to control the leak. Short and longterm health impacts of marine and terrestrial oil spills. The biggest offshore oil spill in american history began on april 20, 2010, about 50 miles off the coast of louisiana. Geographic response plans grps these plans are mapbased and are used by first responders during the initial stages of an incident that involves the transportation of oil.
In addition, between 1997 and 2001, nigeria also recorded a total number of 2,097 oil spill incidents. Attached is a study of the nowruz oil spill in the persian7,uit that you requested last friday for. Most often, spilled oil strands on the shoreline and requires cleanup efforts, though care is needed to minimize additional harm that can slow overall recovery. The agency advised us that its priority was to maintain a presence and prevent the appearance of a lack of government support or curtailment of services. In general, the duplicates refer to unknown oil spill quantities, and so do not affect the results below. Researchers are studying a range of problems, including breathing and blood pressure issues, skin conditions, selfreported symptoms, and. The gulf oil disaster and the future of offshore drilling 2011, by united states national commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling pdf with commentary at govinfo. The national oil and hazardous substances pollution. In its supervision of mineralresource development on the outer continental shelf. An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the. Conspiracy theories behind bp oil spill in gulf from. Public record of underground storage tank releases new york states public record of underground storage tank ust releases includes the number, sources and causes of ust.
In the early hours of 21 august 2009, a small burp of oil and gas was reported as having escaped from the h1 well at the montara whp. Oil spill monitoring handbook 3 currently, only type i oil spill monitoring costs are reimbursed by amsa and the msa under the respective australian and new zealand national marine pollution arrangements. However, the blowout is the worst of its kind in australias offshore petroleum industry history. Effects of crude oil pollution in the tropical rainforest biodiversity of ecuadorian amazon region pdf. Coverage, in these cases, is specifically confined to relevant monitoring undertaken as. Oil spills have many adverse effects on the environment. While youve no doubt been reading plenty of news about the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico, wed like to offer you a different kind of reading. The national oil and hazardous substances pollution contingency plan 40 cfr part 300, referred to subsequently as the national contingency plan ncp, is the principal federal mechanism for operations pertaining to the identification, containment, and cleanup of releases of oil and hazardous substances in the coastal united states. Post impact assessment ashmore cartier browse final report. Find electronic versions of these job aids along with other oil spill response publications here, including seafood safety after an oil spill, the shoreline assessment manual, and the fosc s guide to noaa scientific support.
It also has a section telling kids how to help reduce the usage of oil, indirectly reducing the amount of oil spills. The foremost reason one cleans up an oilchemical spill is to remove the pollutants toxicity from the environment as rapidly as possible so that living organisms can survive. In summary, sbas response to the deepwater horizon oil spill did not appear to be most cost effective. Oil spill monitoring handbook for pdfing shoreline scat. Novel oil spill cleanup technology successfully tested. Bp estimates oil spill rate up to 100,000 barrels per day. Oils spilled into the sea at temperatures below their pour point form semi. The fate of spilled oil in the marine environment depends upon factors such. This book focuses on one of the worst spills in history, the exxon valdez oil tanker spill, to explain in simple terms and with bold, fullcolor illustrations why oil spills happen, how they are cleaned up and what effects spilled oil has on our ocean plants and wildlife. Torts teaching lessons from the bp oil spill michael l. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Ogoniland, oil spills continue to occur with alarming regularity. Melvin berger is the author of many classic lrfos, including germs make me sick. Oil from ships and oil tankers can spill onto the sea water and pollute the water.
The framework can be used to clarify the complexity of oil spill impacts. The ogoni people live with this pollution every day. Containment booms were used to contain oil spilled during the 2010 deepwater horizon. From damage assessment to restoration north cape spill site north cape oil spill january 19, 1996 grounded just offshore ri coast 828,000 gallons of no. One of the major fates of spilled petroleum oil in the coastal environment is its incorporation into the sediments alexander and webb, 1987. This statistic shows the number of oil spills by oil tankers according to the quantity of oil that was spilled from 1970 to 2019. The opa90 authorizes the epa office of research and development ord to conduct oil spill research. In april 2010, the deepwater horizon drilling rig exploded and sank. For three months in 2010 the nation and the world watched and listened in horror and. Far from the media spotlight, pulled from the x files of the internet, are some of the more interesting and conspiratorial narratives on what or who triggered bps oilspill disaster, now. Major oil spill like the jesse fire incident which claimed about a thousand lives and the idoho oil spill in january 1998, in which about 40,000 barrels were spilled into the environment nwilo et al, 2000.
Studying and remediating the destruction main content. The montara oil spill was an oil and gas leak and subsequent slick that took place in the montara oil field in the timor sea, off the northern coast of western australia. Rustad abstract this article is drawn from my talk on the topic of how to teach disaster as part of a torts curriculum at the aals workshop on torts, environment and disaster from june 810, 2012, in berk eley. It is considered one of australias worst oil disasters.
Blowoutaustralias third largest oil spill after the. Assessment of kenyas capacity to effectively prepare for and. Despite this, spill experts estimate that 30%50% of oil spills are either directly or indirectly caused by human error, with 20%40% of all spills caused by equipment failure or malfunction. Australian oil spill data 14 december 2011 dnv project no. Mobilisation fact file 2016 1 o i l s p i l l r e s p o n s e m o b i l i s a t i o n f a c t f i l e 2 0 1 6 introduction oil spill response limited osrl is the largest international industry funded cooperative which exists to respond to oil spills wherever in the world they may occur, by providing preparedness, response and intervention services. Representation of the montara oil spill in australian and. An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution.
Department of energy under contract deac0676rlo 1830 pacific northwest national laboratory richland, washington 99352. Oil properties and their impact on spill response options bsees. This study aimed to document all oil spill positions from field and overflight data, from satellite observations and integrated hindcast oil spill trajectory modelling. The flame refluxer prototype is tested in the burn pan at the joint maritime test facility in mobile. The fur of sea mammals and the feathers of sea birds can be damaged by the oil. Status of models for land surface spills of nonaqueous liquids c. It also highlights ways scientists clean up both small and large oil spills. Status of models for land surface spills of nonaqueous liquids. In december 2012, the british columbia ministry of moe environment published a policy. When oil is spilled into the sea it undergoes a number of physical and chemical.
The third conditionrequires worldleading practices for land oil spill prevention, response and recovery systems to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy oil pipelines. Land based spill preparedness and response in british columbia the province of british columbia b. Crude oil spills in the environment, effects and some. Gulf oil spill released approximately 171 million gallons of oil. An uncontrolled well release from the montara h1st1 development well hereafter the montara well situated at 124020s 1243222e on the sahul shelf in the timor sea figure 1 occurred on 21st august 2009. The shortterm effects of oil spills on marine species and communities are well known and predictable. Oil poisons and harms the aquatic organisms and sea birds. Nontraditional response and emergency restoration projects hosted by the department of the interior, office of environmental policy and compliance may 17.
Deepwater horizon oil spill lessons learned workshop. In miledeep water, a bpoperated well blew out, causing the deepwater. As ogoniland has high rainfall, any delay in cleaning up an oil spill leads to oil being washed away, traversing farmland and almost always ending up in the creeks. The effects of oil spillage on aquatic environment in. However, efforts for spill containment and recovery are considered to be only moderately effective. Roma gans is an expert in early childhood education, professor emeritus of teachers college, columbia university, and cofounder and editor of the letsreadandfindout. Summary of information concerning the ecological and.