"[296] BP's chief operating officer Doug Suttles contradicted the underwater plume discussion noting, "It may be down to how you define what a plume is here The oil that has been found is in very minute quantities. Gerald Baron for Crisisblogger, 8 June 2012. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: No End in Sight for Eco-Disaster. The effect of the microscopic oil droplets on the ecosystem was unknown, though their presence, along with that of a layer of oil several inches thick discovered on portions of the seafloor in September, cast doubt on earlier predictions about the speed with which the discharged oil would dissipate. The settlement includes: Up to an additional $700 million to respond to natural resource damages unknown at the time of the agreement, and for adaptive management. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect,[6][7][8][9] considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil plumes as large as 17 kilometers in diameter were detected just beneath the surface [11] . Review of 10 later hospitalizations found that heat exposure and dehydration were consistent findings but could not establish chemical exposure. [286], The petroleum industry claimed that disasters are infrequent and that this spill was an isolated incident and rejected claims of a loss of industry credibility. Though fitted loosely over the BOP and allowing some oil to escape, the cap enabled BP to siphon approximately 15,000 barrels of oil per day to a tanker. The Macondo well is found roughly 41mi (66km) off the Louisiana coast. That 80 percent resulted in $5.3 billion going to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Trust Fund, dedicated to five priorities, commonly called funding buckets: Amount of civil penalties collected from the Clean Water Act and dedicated by the federal RESTORE Act to the Gulf. Two days later, following a series of pressure tests, it was announced that the well was completely sealed. [250] In 2013, during the three-day "Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference",[251] findings discussed included a '"significant percentage" of Gulf residents reporting mental health problems like anxiety, depression and PTSD. Dispersants, Bacteria and Illness in the Gulf, "West Siberian research institute to help clean up Deepwater Horizon spill", BP withholds oil spill facts and government lets it, White House and BP legal wrangling: more damage to collaborative work in disaster response, "Deepwater Horizon NOTAM Overview: Air Traffic Organization, System Operations, Security", "Is BP Stopping Journalists from Observing the Oil Slick? 3) A large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as a waste product of oil degradation. [115], Containment booms stretching over 4,200,000ft (1,300km) were deployed, either to corral the oil or as barriers to protect marshes, mangroves, shrimp/crab/oyster ranches or other ecologically sensitive areas. [66] In April 2012, oil was still found along as much as 200mi (320km) of Louisiana coastline and tar balls continued to wash up on the barrier islands. [89], On 3 September 2010, the 300-ton failed blowout preventer was removed from the well and a replacement blowout preventer was installed. However, it was verified in June that the plumes were in fact from the Deepwater spill. [18][19], Numerous investigations explored the causes of the explosion and record-setting spill. Oil spill transport and fate models are effective tools which allow a . The funds will be used strictly for research activities, with results published in peer-reviewed scientific journals with no BP approval or review. [204] In March 2012, a definitive link was found between the death of a Gulf coral community and the spill. It was largely settled when a Federal District judge approved the, That 80 percent resulted in $5.3 billion going to the, The remaining 20 percent, or $1.33 billion, went to, The National Academy of Sciences received $500 million to create the, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundations received $2.544 billion for its, NOAA led development of the preliminary restoration planning, along with the U.S. [287][288] CEOs from the top five oil companies all agreed to work harder at improving safety. "[318] BP released a statement in response to this, saying, that "even prior to the conclusion of the commission's investigation, BP instituted significant changes designed to further strengthen safety and risk management. Various risks were identified and evaluated, in particular, that an increase in microbial activity might reduce subsea oxygen levels, threatening fish and other animals. ", "BP Buys 'Oil' Search Terms to Redirect Users to Official Company Website", "BP buys 'oil spill' sponsored links for search engines", "Bob Dudley: Profile of the new BP chief executive", "Why we disrupted Tony Hayward's award at the University of Birmingham", "Honorary degree for ex-BP Gulf of Mexico boss is a sick joke", "University defends degree for Deepwater Horizon boss Tony Hayward", "Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: International Offers of Assistance", "U.S. not accepting foreign help on oil spill", "Jones Act: Maritime politics strain Gulf oil spill cleanup", "Salazar Launches Safety and Environmental Protection Reforms to Toughen Oversight of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations", "Weekly Address: President Obama Establishes Bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling", "Attorney General Eric Holder on Gulf Oil Spill", "Anadarko and Mitsui executives set to testify", "Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer 'faulty' Congress", Transocean, Halliburton blast BP report on cause of blowout, oil spill, "Gulf oil spill: President's panel says firms complacent", "Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling", "BP and firms made risky decisions before spill: report", "Blunders Abounded Before Gulf Spill, Panel Says", "BP, Transocean, Halliburton blamed by presidential Gulf oil spill commission", "Panel: Without changes in oil industry and government, BP-like spill could happen again", "DNV report on Deepwater Horizon BOP concluded", "Gulf oil spill report: BP ultimately responsible in Gulf spill", "Comment. [155] Due to use of Corexit the oil was too dispersed to collect, according to a spokesperson for shipowner TMT. A study based on samples taken at several beaches in the Gulf of Mexico before and after the BP oil spill showed a drastic change in the microbial community at the locations [5]. He described BP's actions as "reckless." Heat stress was found to be the most pressing safety concern. [28] In April 2016, BP agreed to pay $20.8billion in fines, the largest corporate settlement in United States history. By 3 October 2012, federal response costs amounted to $850million, mostly reimbursed by BP. For the Deep Horizon oil spill, cleanup workers used 1,400,000USgal (5,300,000l; 1,200,000impgal) of various chemical dispersants to further breakdown the oil. . PR Newser, 20 May 2010, Crisis Communications. The Deepwater Horizon rig, owned and operated by offshore-oil-drilling company Transocean and leased by oil company BP, was situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley in the continental shelf. [141] On 24 May, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson ordered EPA to conduct its own evaluation of alternatives and ordered BP to reduce dispersant use by 75%. But this was only the start of the disaster. [193], A 2014 study of the effects of the oil spill on bluefin tuna funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Stanford University, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium and published in the journal Science, found that the toxins from oil spills can cause irregular heartbeats leading to cardiac arrest. A .gov [247] An independent investigation for Newsweek showed that BP did not hand out the legally required safety manual for use with Corexit, and were not provided with safety training or protective gear. According to a NALCO manual obtained by GAP, Corexit 9527 is an eye and skin irritant. The CBS crew was told by the authorities: "this is BP's rules, not ours," when trying to film the area. Washington, DC 20036. An official website of the United States government. On the night of April 20 a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core recently installed by contractor Halliburton in order to seal the well for later use. It was said that the U.S. was "dumping" the blame onto the British people and there were calls for British Prime Minister David Cameron to protect British interests in the United States. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. In early July the LMRP cap was removed for several days so that a more permanent seal could be installed; this capping stack was in place by July 12. Selective pressure placed upon communities of organisms by the large increase of petroleum and other petroleum derivatives selects for the survival of organisms that can use petroleum and derivatives as energy, electron, and or carbon source [5]. [29], The Deepwater Horizon was a 10-year-old[30] semi-submersible, mobile, floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in waters up to 10,000ft (3,000m) deep. "[151][152], The three basic approaches for removing the oil from the water were: combustion, offshore filtration, and collection for later processing. The paper is titled "Oil biodegradation and bioremediation: A tale of the two worst spills in U. S. history." . Two weeks after the wellhead was capped on 15 July 2010, the surface oil appeared to have dissipated, while an unknown amount of subsurface oil remained. [338] On 13 January 2013, Judge Barbier approved a medical-benefits portion of BP's proposed $7.8billion partial settlement. The deepwater oil plume was greater than 35 km in distance and 30% was still in the water column. [28][361], On 2 July 2015, BP, the U.S. Justice Department and five gulf states announced that the company agreed to pay a record settlement of $18.7billion. Regular cleanup patrols were no longer considered justified but cleanup was being conducted on an as-needed basis, in response to public reports. Diaz also believes neurological disorders should be expected. [211][dead link] A peer-reviewed NOAA/BP study disclosed that nearly half the bottlenose dolphins tested in mid-2011 in Barataria Bay, a heavily oiled area, were in guarded or worse condition, "including 17 percent that were not expected to survive". Before the spill there was an average of 100 strandings per year; since the spill the number has jumped to roughly 500. This adds to the already soaring greenhouse gas concentration. 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