Analysis of the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill Report

This report examines the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, detailing the incident's occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico, the loss of life, and the massive oil spill that followed. The report explores the causes, including ignored worst-case scenarios and systematic problems in drilling oversight. It analyzes the environmental consequences, such as the impact on aquatic life and the presence of harmful chemicals, and the health consequences, including reported cases of spill exposure. The report further discusses the spill's impacts on marine environments, including the threat to numerous species and national parks. Finally, the report provides recommendations for preventing similar disasters in the future, emphasizing the importance of considering worst-case scenarios, incentivizing risk reduction, and reforming regulatory structures. The report concludes with references to support the findings.

Running head: MARINE AND AIR POLLUTION
MARINE AND AIR POLLUTION
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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................2
Incident:...........................................................................................................2
How and why it happened:...........................................................................2
Consequences:................................................................................................3
Environmental consequences:......................................................................3
Health consequences:..................................................................................3
Impacts of the Incident:...................................................................................4
Recommendation:............................................................................................4
References:......................................................................................................5

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Introduction:
On 20th of April, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, which is an oil drilling
rig, was operating in the Gulf of Mexico in Macondo Prospect, when it
exploded and then sank in the water body. This incident led to the death of
11 workers and this is regarded as the highest amount of oil spill in the
whole history of marine operations of oil drillings. This single incident
imposed many environmental impacts and the consequences were harmful
for the surrounding environment.
Incident:
This oil spill that resulted in a fatal circumstance for 11 of the workers,
spilled 4 million barrels and this oil spilled from the destroyed Macondo and
was intact on the water body for well over 87 days. Only after the time
period of 87 days, it was possible to finally cap the spill on 15th of July, 2010
(Michel et al., 2013). United States filed their complaint against BP
Exploration & Production in the District Court. Every other defendant who
was responsible for such a disastrous spill was complaint against with serious
allegations.
How and why it happened:
The disaster of Deepwater Horizon is an incident that is classically
described as some of low probability but when it happened it had high
impact. One of the reasons why such a disaster took place is that the pre-

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disaster assumptions about the worst case scenarios were either ignored or
completely ignored; it may also have happened that the pre-assumptions
about the disasters were completely off the base (Husseneder, Donaldson &
Foil, 2016). The post mortems of the Gulf spill showed that the precise cause
of the initial explosion and also the failure of the “blowout preventer”
occurred due to the grave systematic problems. There are clear indications
of illusory knowledge of the risk- free drilling; investigations have pointed out
some areas where there were high chances to reform and this disaster would
have been avoided (Crone & Tolstoy, 2010). However, the weak oversight of
the government about the complex and technical challenge related with the
act of drilling wells is one of the causes behind this blunder, including the
failure of evaluation of BP in terms of considering the worst case scenarios.
Consequences:
The consequences of the incident ranged from environmental to
health, from economy to the offshore drilling policies. Among them, the most
serious consequences were suffered in the field of health and environmental
consequences.
Environmental consequences:
The spill resulted in complete disaster to the aquatic life forms nearby;
more than 1,270 fishes, 604 polychaetes, and other such 8,332 species were
affected by the spill (Robertson & Krauss, 2010). Between the month of May
and June of the year of the spill, the water in the spilling area contained PAHs

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or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that were 40 times more than it was at
the time of the explosion in the month of April.
Health consequences:
By the month of June in the year 2010, Louisiana Department of Health
and Hospitals reported to have received 143 cases of spill-exposure. The
cause behind it was estimated to be occurring from the chemicals and
dispersant of the oil (Shultz et al., 2015). It was also believed that the
additional dispersant actually made the oil more toxic than it already was.
The cleanup workers were examined and it was found that their blood
contained these chemicals and this is why the families residing near the Gulf
were advised to evacuate the area or else it will result in long term health
consequences.
Impacts of the Incident:
The spill of 2010 in the Gulf had its impacts on the environment and
along with the spill; the cleanup also had its impacts that affected the
environment. It was in fact the worst disaster that impacted the environment
of US. Certain factors like oxygen depletion, petroleum toxicity and also the
use of corexit are the reason behind such a humongous damage. In the
marine environment, this oil spill risked the lives of above 400 species that
had its habitat in the Gulf marshlands and islands (Liu et al., 2016). Eight of
the national parks of the US were threatened as an impact of this oil spill and
among the other species which were endangered, included 34,000 birds.

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Even in the month of November of the year 2010, damage was also found in
the deep sea corals.
Recommendation:
For reducing the probability of such a disaster in the future, it is
recommended that the worst case scenario is taken into account seriously
with proper notion about the scenario. The industry should be provided with
stronger incentives so that they can invest it in the risk reduction, safety and
the containment technologies. Most importantly, the regulatory structures
should be reformed in order to adapt to all the drilling risks associated with
deepwater.

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References:
Crone, T. J., & Tolstoy, M. (2010). Magnitude of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil
leak. Science, 330(6004), 634-634.
Husseneder, C., Donaldson, J. R., & Foil, L. D. (2016). Impact of the 2010
Deepwater Horizon oil spill on population size and genetic structure of
horse flies in Louisiana marshes. Scientific Reports, 6, 18968.
Liu, Z., Liu, J., Gardner, W. S., Shank, G. C., & Ostrom, N. E. (2016). The
impact of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on petroleum hydrocarbons in
surface waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Research Part
II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 129, 292-300.
Michel, J., Owens, E. H., Zengel, S., Graham, A., Nixon, Z., Allard, T., ... &
Rutherford, N. (2013). Extent and degree of shoreline oiling:
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, USA. PloS one, 8(6).
Robertson, C., & Krauss, C. (2010). Gulf spill is the largest of its kind,
scientists say. The New York Times, 2(8).
Shultz, J. M., Walsh, L., Garfin, D. R., Wilson, F. E., & Neria, Y. (2015). The
2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill: the trauma signature of an ecological
disaster. The journal of behavioral health services & research, 42(1),
58-76.