Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Crude oil is shown in the Pacific Ocean offshore of Orange County, California, Oct. 3, 2021. The spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, and resulted in a massive release of oil into the ocean. [260] During the crisis, BP gas stations in the United States reported a sales drop of between 10 and 40% due to backlash against the company. Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The PAHs were most concentrated near the Louisiana Coast, but levels also jumped 23 fold in areas off Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. [52] On 10 July, the containment cap was removed to replace it with a better-fitting cap ("Top Hat Number 10"). British pension fund managers (who have large holdings of BP shares and rely upon its dividends) accepted that while BP had to pay compensation for the spill and the environmental damage, they argued that the cost to the company's market value from President Obama's criticism was far outweighing the direct clean-up costs. Typically such large amounts are sprayed over the open ocean from an airplane or helicopter. When an attempt to employ a top kill, whereby drilling mud was pumped into the well to stanch the flow of oil, also failed, BP in early June turned to an apparatus called the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) cap. [59], On 25 July 2013, Halliburton pleaded guilty to destruction of critical evidence after the oil spill and said it would pay the maximum allowable fine of $200,000 and will be subject to three years of probation. [104] USGS director Marcia McNutt stated that the riser pipe could hold at most 1,000bbl (160m3) because it is open on both ends, making it unlikely to hold the amount of oil being observed. Problems include the fact that microbes being introduced may require different conditions in order to grow, indigenous organisms out compete the new comers, and if growth is observed, it may not reach a high enough concentration to have an observable effect on the degradation of oil. BP rejected the charges saying "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January. [197] A study of insect populations in the coastal marshes affected by the spill also found a significant impact. [364][365][366] Three more BP employees were charged in November 2012. For example, genes for hydrocarbon degradation (ex: alkB) are found in uncontaminated samples from the Gulf of Mexico more commonly than in other regions around the world. The explosion The scientists said that their findings would most likely apply to other large predator fish and "even to humans, whose developing hearts are in many ways similar." [59] The reported 3.19 million barrels of spilled oil was not the only effect of this disaster. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [367] David Rainey, BP's former vice-president for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, was charged with obstructing Congress by misrepresenting the rate that oil was flowing out of the well. [120][121] Critics allege that the decision to pursue the project was political with little scientific input. Academy Directory. [340] BP says that it has $9.5billion in assets set aside in a trust to pay the claims, and the settlement will not increase the $37.2billion the company budgeted for spill-related expenses. The oil leak was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. It is possible to add fertilizers, such as iron, nitrogen and phosphorus, to stimulate the growth of such bacteria, an approach used to speed up microbial activity in the sediment along the Alaska. The fines from the criminal cases administered by the National Academies of Science offsite link and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation offsite link are used for two programs: After the spill, state and federal agencies undertook an intense scientific study of the impacts of the spill. Another possibility is that it is formation oil escaping from the subsurface, using the Macondo well casing as flow conduit, possibly intersecting a naturally occurring fault, and then following that to escape at the surface some distance from the wellhead. Chemical data implied that the substance might be residual oil leaking from the wreckage. Traditional methods of oil spill cleaning include processes such as controlled burns, skimmers, vacuum pumping, low-pressure flush, manual mechanical cleanup, gelling agent, and many more [3], most of which merely remove the hydrocarbon from the affected water or environment and transfers them to another location. They used this assessment to develop a science-based, comprehensive restoration plan for the Gulf of Mexico, which will be funded through a settlement with BP for up to $8.8 billion. [59], It was estimated with plus-or-minus 10% uncertainty that 4.9Mbbl (780,000m3) of oil was released from the well; 4.1Mbbl (650,000m3) of oil went into the Gulf. In a New York Times opinion piece, Stephen Teague, staff attorney at the Mississippi Center for Justice, argued that BP had become "increasingly brazen" in "stonewalling payments." [335] The firms deny the allegations. At approximately 7:45pm CDT, on 20 April 2010, high-pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the marine riser and rose into the drilling rig, where it ignited and exploded, engulfing the platform. A 100% reduction in alkanes and a 85.1% reduction in PAHs were demonstrated over 28 days. [230][231], On 12 April 2016, a research team reported that 88 percent of about 360 baby or stillborn dolphins within the spill area "had abnormal or under-developed lungs", compared to 15 percent in other areas. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection . Under the final consent decree, BP will pay the trustees up to $8.8 billion, the largest recovery of damages ever for injuries to natural resources, to restore the Gulf. One study projects that the overall impact of lost or degraded commercial, recreational, and mariculture fisheries in the Gulf could be $8.7billion by 2020, with a potential loss of 22,000 jobs over the same time frame. [citation needed], Prior to the oil spill, on March 31, 2010, Obama ended a ban on oil and gas drilling along the majority of the East Coast of the United States and along the coast of northern Alaska in an effort to win support for an energy and climate bill and to reduce foreign imports of oil and gas. [235][236], Mike Robicheux, a Louisiana physician, described the situation as "the biggest public health crisis from a chemical poisoning in the history of this country. [155] Due to use of Corexit the oil was too dispersed to collect, according to a spokesperson for shipowner TMT. The U.S. State Department listed 70 assistance offers from 23 countries, all being initially declined, but later, 8 had been accepted. How can we best prepare to respond to such an event in this challenging environment? This process involves investigating the effects of the spill on natural resources and determining the costs to restore them. Number of adult oysters lost to the marketplace because of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill. [14] In Louisiana, 4,900,000lb (2,200t) of oily material was removed from the beaches in 2013, over double the amount collected in 2012. [315], The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released a final report on 5 January 2011. [305][306] The USCG actively requested skimming boats and equipment from several countries.[307]. Early response to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion (USCG). Clarke, Sanchez, Bonfiles, Escobedo (15 June 2010). GSF Development Driller II started drilling a second relief on 16 May 2010. The result could have long-term effects because oil could remain in the food chain for generations. The deal would settle roughly 100,000 claims filed by individuals and businesses affected by the spill. Bacterial community structures were evaluated in oil samples using culture-independent pyrosequencing, including oil mousses collected on sea surface and salt marshes during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and oil deposited in sediments adjacent to the wellhead 1 year after the spill. Is there a way to inhibit full degradation of petroleum while producing non toxic organic compounds? The conclusion was that BP was partly to blame, as was Transocean, which owned the rig. [201] In October 2013, Al Jazeera reported that the gulf ecosystem was "in crisis", citing a decline in seafood catches, as well as deformities and lesions found in fish. Their versatile metabolism and their ability to thrive in various conditions make them a good candidate to be used for bioaugmentation. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to . [270] The ban was lifted in October 2010. Please click here to see any active alerts. The United States federal government estimated the total discharge at 4,900Mbbl (210million USgal; 780,000m3). $1 billion already allocated during early restoration which began in 2011. [142][143][144] BP reduced Corexit use by 25,689 to 23,250USgal (97,240 to 88,010L) per day, a 9% decline. (A 2014 report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board claimed that the blind shear rams had activated sooner than previously thought and may have actually punctured the pipe.). [358] According to the plaintiffs' lawyers the major cause of an explosion was the mishandling of a rig safety test, while inadequate training of the staff, poor maintenance of the equipment and substandard cement were also mentioned as things leading to the disaster. [11][111], The fundamental strategies for addressing the spill were containment, dispersal and removal. [59] As of January2011[update], tar balls, oil sheen trails, fouled wetlands marsh grass and coastal sands were still evident. Calling the vicinity of the spill "one of the most productive ocean ecosystems in the world", the study found that even at very low concentrations "PAH cardiotoxicity was potentially a common form of injury among a broad range of species in the vicinity of the oil. Microbial Activities and Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Surface Seawater from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Site. PLoS One, 2012, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034816, (9) Mulet, M., David, Z., Nogales, B., Bosch, R., Lalucat, J. and Garcia-Valdes, E. Pseudomonas Diversity in Crude-Oil-Contaminated Intertidal Sand Samples Obtained after the Prestige Oil Spill. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2011, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01741-10, (10) Boopathy, R., Shields, S. and Nunna, S. Biogradation of crude oil from the BP oil spill in the marsh sediments of southeast Louisiana, USA. Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 2012, DOI: NA, (11) Atlas, R. Oil Biodegradation and Bioremediation: A tale of the Two Worst Spills in U.S. History. Environ Sci Technol, 2011, DOI: 10.1021/es2013227, Figure 1: http://www.birdeducation.org/BENBulletin32.htm, Figure 2: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0602/BP-oil-spill-Five-outside-the-box-solutions-to-capping-and-cleanup, Figure 3: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2011/0106/Gulf-oil-spill-study-s-surprising-find-Bacteria-ate-methane-in-three-months, Figure 4: http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2010/05/24/your-pictures-of-the-bp-oil-spill-making-landfall-are-here-and-just-as-hopelessly-tragic-as-youd-feared, From MicrobeWiki, the student-edited microbiology resource, Specific strain of microbes capable of hydrocarbon degradation, Possible topics for further research and direction, http://www.birdeducation.org/BENBulletin32.htm, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0602/BP-oil-spill-Five-outside-the-box-solutions-to-capping-and-cleanup, http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2011/0106/Gulf-oil-spill-study-s-surprising-find-Bacteria-ate-methane-in-three-months, http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2010/05/24/your-pictures-of-the-bp-oil-spill-making-landfall-are-here-and-just-as-hopelessly-tragic-as-youd-feared, https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php?title=Microbial_Response_to_Deepwater_Horizon_Oil_Spill&oldid=79090. The remaining 20 percent, or $1.33 billion, went to The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a general government fund established in 1986 to aid in oil spill removal and assessment of the damage they have caused. [228] A 2015 study of the relative toxicity of oil and dispersants to coral also found that the dispersants were more toxic than the oil. [176], Local and federal authorities citing BP's authority denied access to members of the press attempting to document the spill from the air, from boats, and on the ground, blocking access to areas that were open to the public. restoration plan to address impacts from the spill to the Gulf of Mexico, Trustees final comprehensive restoration plan, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission Partner to Restore Recreational Fish, Rescued from Deepwater Horizon, a Resilient Native Returns to Queen Bess Island, $226 Million in Projects Approved in Gulf Open Ocean Restoration Plan, Two Partners Recommended for Funding to Restore Habitat From Oil and Hazardous Waste Spills, Comments Welcomed on Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Draft Restoration Plan, Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Restoration Plan 1 Finalized, Mississippi Acquires Land in Grand Bay with Deepwater Horizon Settlement Funds, NOAA Announces Latest Partnership to Restore Habitats Damaged by Oil and Hazardous Waste, Deepwater Horizon Trustees to Host Two Public Events, July 18 and 19 in Mississippi, A Decade Later: Advances in Oil Spill Science Since Deepwater Horizon, Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths, https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord. 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