Exploring the BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

The BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill occurred in 2011, resulting from a deepwater drilling rig explosion that released millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The incident had severe environmental and economic implications, including devastating effects on local ecosystems and communities. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was enacted to provide a framework for responding to oil spills, but it ultimately proved ineffective in containing the BP spill. It took BP over 80 days to stop the leak, which was largely due to the complexity of the situation and the company's lack of preparedness. Implementing a real-time monitoring system would have been most helpful to BP in preventing the spill, as demonstrated by the fact that similar systems had successfully detected leaks at other drilling sites.

ASSIGNMENT 8
BU310 Fundamentals of Management
Directions: Be sure to save an electronic copy of your answer before
submitting it to for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete
sentences, and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar.
Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be 3 double-
spaced pages; refer to the "Assignment Format" page located on the Course
Home page for specific format requirements.
NOTE: To access ProQuest articles, you MUST first open a Web browser
window to the Ashworth College Library; otherwise, you will be denied
access to the articles when you click the links. Once your browser is open to
the Ashworth College Library, simply click on the link for the article you
need to read.
Access the following article using ProQuest, the Ashworth College online
library:
 Griggs, J. (2011). BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL. Energy Law
Journal, 32.1, 57-79. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/869071045/13F9B6E0ACE2413E
456/3?accountid=45844
Respond to the following:
1. In your own words, provide an overview of the events and
implications of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
2. Explain the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, including why it was enacted, its
general provisions, and OPA 90's effectiveness in terms of containing
a major spill.
3. Why did it take BP so long to stop the spill?
4. Which type of control would have been most helpful to BP in averting
the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Provide one (1) supporting fact to
support your response.

Grading Rubric
Please refer to the rubric below for the grading criteria for this assignment.
CATEGORY Exemplary Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Unacceptable
20 points 15 points 10 points 5 points
Student provides a clear,
logical description of the
events and implications of
the BP Gulf of Mexico oil
spill.
Student provides a mostly
clear, logical description of
the events and implications
of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil
spill.
Student provides a weak or
unclear description of the
events and implications of
the BP Gulf of Mexico oil
spill.
Student provides a poor
description of the events
and implications of the BP
Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
15 points 12 points 8 points 5 points
Student provides a clear,
logical description of OPA 90,
including why it was enacted,
its general provisions, and
effectiveness.
Student provides a mostly
clear, logical description of
OPA 90, including why it was
enacted, its general
provisions, and
effectiveness.
Student provides a weak or
unclear description of OPA
90, including why it was
enacted, its general
provisions, and
effectiveness.
Student provides a poor
description of OPA 90,
including why it was
enacted, its general
provisions, and
effectiveness.
20 points 15 points 10 points 5 points
Student provides a clear,
logical discussion of why it
took BP so long to stop the
spill.
Student provides a mostly
clear, logical discussion of
why it took BP so long to
stop the spill.
Student provides a weak or
unclear discussion of why it
took BP so long to stop the
spill.
Student provides a poor
discussion of why it took
BP so long to stop the spill.
15 points 12 points 8 points 5 points
Student provides a clear,
logical description of the
type of control would have
been most helpful to BP in
averting the oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, with at least
1 clear, logical supporting
fact.
Student provides a mostly
clear, logical description of
the type of control would
have been most helpful to
BP in averting the oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico, with at
least 1 mostly clear, logical
supporting fact.
Student provides a weak or
unclear description of the
type of control would have
been most helpful to BP in
averting the oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, with at least
1 weak or unclear
supporting fact.
Student provides a poor
description of the type of
control would have been
most helpful to BP in
averting the oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, with 0-1
poor supporting facts.
20 points 15 points 10 points 5 points
Student makes no errors in
grammar or spelling that
distract the reader from the
content.
Student makes 1-2 errors in
grammar or spelling that
distract the reader from the
content.
Student makes 3-4 errors in
grammar or spelling that
distract the reader from the
content.
Student makes more than
4 errors in grammar or
spelling that distract the
reader from the content.
10 points 8 points 5 points 2 points
The paper is written in
proper format. All sources
used for quotes and facts are
credible and cited correctly.
The paper is written in
proper format with only 1-2
errors. All sources used for
quotes and facts are credible
and most are cited correctly.
The paper is written in
proper format with only 3-5
errors. Most sources used
for quotes and facts are
credible and cited correctly.
The paper is not written in
proper format. Many
sources used for quotes
and facts are less than
credible (suspect) and/or
are not cited correctly.
Overview (20
points)
OPA 90 (15 points)
Format (10 Points)
Stopping spill (20
points)
Mechanics (20
Points)
Type of control (15
points)