Lost_at_Sea

Sydney Bright Dr. Worthington ENGL 1101 Report Essay 24 October 2010 A Man-Made Disaster in the Gulf: A Look Inside the Anxiety Leaking from the Deepwater Horizon The Gulf Oil Spill has devastated the coast economically and environmentally. The full impact to the environment will not be known for years to come. On the 20th of June an explosion occurred on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, located 52 miles South-east of the Louisiana Port of Venice (Oil Spill Timeline). The explosion killed 11 men, and opened a pipeline directly into the waters of the Gulf. The aftermath was an epic disaster for the American populace and our natural environment along the entire Gulf Coast. It is important for future generations to know how this catastrophic event came to be, the effort to rectify the damages, and how we are trying to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. The spill was a result of corporate negligence, poor regulation, and the overlooking of details. Time Magazine said, “Indeed, the uncontrolled corruption of the spill — the failure of government, business and technology to manage an essential, if archaic, resource — beggared all human pretense” (Klein). The oil spill could most easily be blamed on the failings of the blowout preventer, the preventer is used to seal the well shut and to test the pressure and integrity of the well, and in case of a blowout is the crews only hope. But who was in charge of making sure these operations were in sound and working order' Transocean, the drilling company that owned the rig, released a 2010 document which identified 260 separate ways that the blowout preventer could have failed. At least one battery used in a critical part of the emergency valve was dead (Alan, EPA). According to an interview conducted by 60 Minutes with Mike Williams, there was an unreported incident four weeks before the explosion. While technicians were conducting a test they had to close the rubber gasket called an annular, which closes tightly around the drill pipe. While the annular was closed, a crewman accidentally nudged a joystick, applying thousands of pounds of force and moving fifteen feet of drill pipe through the blowout preventer. Chunks of rubber were later discovered floating in the drilling fluid by a man overseeing the fluid that came to the top. When a foreman who works for Transocean was informed of the damage to the annular and the evidence found, he chose to ignore the problem for the sake of profit and time (60 Minutes). Mike Williams was a chief electronic technician for Transocean on the Deepwater Horizon and also one of the last people to escape the rig before it exploded. According to Mr. Williams, the morning of the disaster there was an argument between the BP manager, and the manager of Transocean about who was boss. Mr. Williams said, “In finishing the well the plan was to have a subcontractor, Haliburton, place three concrete plugs in the column. The Transocean manager wanted to do this with the column full of the heavy drilling fluid that keeps the pressure from down below contained, but the manger from BP wanted to begin to remove the mud before the last plug was in place, in order to expedite the process. BP won the argument. To do it BP’s way, they had to be absolutely certain that the first two plugs were keeping the pressure down. That life or death test was done using the Blowout Preventer which had the damaged gasket, and which they later discovered had a hydraulic leak and a weak battery. When they started to remove the fluid, relieving downward pressure, the plugs failed, the blowout preventer didn’t work and thus 11 men were incinerated” (60 Minutes). The failure at Deep Water Horizon was systemic in nature; the Halliburton cement plugs failed, Transocean damaged the blowout preventer, and BP pressed for speed. Experts around the world agree that this was one of the largest most catastrophic oil spills in U.S. history, but what isn’t being made well-known to the public is how this spill has been different from the rest. The Exxon Valdez oil spill, which happened in 1989, was the largest oil spill to happen before the Gulf. It impacted over 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska, and was spread far and wide by a storm that came shortly after. The type of oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez, which was said to have caused a ‘black tide’, was very thick, mostly staying in a contained blob which would have made it easier to clean up, if not for the storm (Cleveland). The type of oil that poured out during the Gulf spill was unusually light, much more so than the heavy crude that spilled from the Exxon Valdez. Experts say it evaporates quicker, and it’s easier to burn. According to an article published in New York Times, “It appears to respond to the use of dispersants, which break up globs of oil and help them sink. The oil is still capable of significant damage, particularly when it is churned up with water and forms a sort of mousse that floats and can travel long distances” (Broder). However, anytime this natural resource is spilled into an ecological environment, damage ensues. The Gulf of Mexico is home to over 16,000 species of plants and animals. These species and they’re home could be irrevocably damaged, and their beauty marred for generations. Not only the oil, but the dispersants used by BP could have devastating effects as well to the environment. “The U.S. government is ordering energy giant BP to find less-toxic chemicals to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid evidence that the dispersants are not effective and could actually make the spill more harmful to marine life”(Levin). Researchers are just beginning to piece together a picture of the Gulf's post-spill ecosystem, and it's not pretty. In every aspect of sea life in the gulf, you can find evidence of the devastating effects of the spill. Some incidents, like a massive die-off of sea cucumbers may not seem so fatal, but if you take in the fact that those gelatinous organisms are fed on by endangered sea turtles, you will see that taking even the smallest organism out of the Food Chain makes a huge impact (Destruction). “The spill came at a particularly bad time for oysters, coinciding with the peak season for oyster ‘spat’, which is the release of billions of tiny juvenile oysters, the size of pepper flakes, into the water, where they drift until those that survive attach themselves to a reef and grow to adulthood.” The species of birds in the Gulf were not so lucky either. It has been reported that 1,828 birds have been collected dead and 1,102 collected alive by cleanup workers. Sperm Whales are the only endangered species in the gulf and only one has been found dead. Unfortunately, as many as 60 dolphins were found deceased (Destruction). According to an article in Earth Island Journal, if only the stems and the surface grass of wetlands are affected then they should recover within one to two years, but if the oil has penetrated the roots, the marsh lands may never recover. Spill-related stress is wreaking havoc everywhere in the Gulf, no matter where you turn. There has been one reported suicide stemming directly from this stress: a 55-year-old Gulf charter skipper was reported dead as of June 23, and experts expect many more to follow in the aftermath of this man-made accident. Not only is the oil rig explosion disrupting life under the sea, it is inflicting serious economic and psychological damages on communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. Experts say that it could put an end to shrimping and fishing in the Gulf, possibly for decades and that may trigger a mass migration and uproot whole communities. Calculating the degree of damage to the economy is, for now, a guessing game, as scientists don’t yet know how much oil will reach shore, and how far it will actually stretch. Historically, this is one of the most significant and devastating man-made disasters. The conclusions drawn from this human error will eventually lead to better education and processes in our world wide oil driven society. The Obama Administration is committed to holding responsible all of the parties accountable for all eligible costs associated with the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. To date, the Administration has sent seven bills to BP and other responsible parties such as Transocean and Haliburton for oil removal costs, of which the first six have been reimbursed in full by BP (Destruction). However, there will not ever likely be a completely spill free solution when oil is the pervasive and sought after commodity that compels mankind to reach into the bowels of the earth to get it out. Works Cited Alan, Levin. "EPA tells BP to use less-toxic chemicals." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. Alan, Levin. "Problems plagued emergency valves at head of oil well." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. Broder, John. "Gulf Oil Spill is Bad, but How Bad'" NY Times. 03 May 2010. 26 October 2010 Cleveland, Cutler. "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill." The Encyclopedia of Earth. 09 June 2010. EBSCO. Web. 26 October 2010 Klein, Joe. "Who's to Blame for the Gulf Oil Spill'." TIME. 27 May 2010. 23 October 2010. “Oil Spill Timeline." The Fiscal Times. 07 June 2010. Online News Article. 23 October 2010. “Web of Destruction.” Earth Island Journal 25.3 (2010): 40. Academic Search Complete. 26 October 2010 Williams, Mike. “Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster.” CBSnews.com. 60 minutes. Internet Website. Image; Joel K. Bourne, Jr. Disaster Inevitable' National Geographic. October 2010