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The BP Oild Spill
By: Caroline Gendron
The BP oil spill is an oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill flowed for three months straight last year. The BP oil spill is the largest marine oil spill in U.S. History. On April 20, 2010 The Deepwater Horizon explosion occurred southeast of the Louisiana coast. The Deepwater Horizon was a nine-year-old semi-submersible Drilling Unit drilling rig. The cost of The Deepwater Horizon was valued at $560 million dollars in February 2001. Eleven workers were killed and seventeen other workers were injured and eleven people were missing. A blowout preventer failed to activate which is supposed to prevent crude oil from being released. The Deepwater Horizon sank and that is when the major oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 25, the US coast guard reports that the well is leaking underwater and releasing crude oil into the ocean. Natural gas and diesel fuel was also being released into the ocean. On May 1, the coast guard announced that the BP Oil Spill will affect the Gulf shore. On May 6, toxic pink oil seawater occurs on the shore off the Louisiana coast. This toxic pink oil is very dangerous for the many birds that live there. Barack Obama compared the BP Oil Spill to 9/11 on June 14. Hurricane Alex occurred on June 30th, which disrupted BP’s clean-up. Capping the wellhead on July 15 finally stopped the leak. An estimation of 53 barrels a day was being released into the Gulf of Mexico. BP takes full responsibility for the explosion. The BP Oil Spill has caused immense damage to the marine, wildlife, and tourism industries. Tar balls were found in fishing nets and wetlands. Oil began to wash up on the beaches off the Gulf Islands on June 1. Oil was washing up on the Mississippi and Alabana islands and also in Florida on Pensacola Beach. Oil is also spread on the sea floor for miles. There are eight national parks and 400 species that are threatened. The Kemp’s Ridley, Green Turtle, Loggerhead turtle, Hawksbill turtle, and the Leatherback turtle are endangered species and are at the most in risk. So far, estimated 6,000 birds, 600 sea turtles, 100 dolphins, and 1 reptile have been found dead. Over 130 lawsuits against BP have been filed.
References:
http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=40&contentId=7061813
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/bp-oil-spill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
Your blog is very informative, with more of a list set up of how the oil spill has affected the U.S and also the wildlife that is protected in the Gulf of Mexico region. I think its pretty awful that Barack Obama compared the loss of thousands of lives in a terrorist attack, to an oil spill affecting mostly animals. Being personally affected by the event I think its ridiculous. That’s the only piece of information in the blog I don’t agree with, but well done and informative.