The North American Wetlands Conservation Fund received $100 million from the court fines to support projects on wetlands restoration and conservation in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Regular cleanup patrols were no longer considered justified but cleanup was being conducted on an as-needed basis, in response to public reports. The gas released caused an enormous underwater explosion that sadly took 11 lives and injured 17 others. The organization Smithsonians National Zoological Park also helped to rescue the remaining marine life. On 20 April, 2010, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed the largest oil spill in US history. Thousands of animals were visibly covered in oil. [302], In July 2013, Hayward was awarded an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University. ", "OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH. [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. [105], In October 2012, BP reported that they had found and plugged leaking oil from the failed containment dome, now abandoned about 1,500ft (460m) from the main well. USCG said 3310^6USgal (120,000m3) of tainted water was recovered, including 510^6USgal (19,000m3) of oil. 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. [308] The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling was established on 22 May to "consider the root causes of the disaster and offer options on safety and environmental precautions. [217][218], In 2012, tar balls continued to wash up along the Gulf coast[219][220][221][222] and in 2013, tar balls could still be found in on the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, along with oil sheens in marshes and signs of severe erosion of coastal islands, brought about by the death of trees and marsh grass from exposure to the oil. [313] The report found that on 20 April 2010, managers misread pressure data and gave their approval for rig workers to replace drilling fluid in the well with seawater, which was not heavy enough to prevent gas that had been leaking into the well from firing up the pipe to the rig, causing the explosion. [23][59] Oil sector analysts at London-based investment bank Canaccord Genuity noted that a settlement along the lines disclosed would only be a partial resolution of the many claims against BP. The paper is titled "Oil biodegradation and bioremediation: A tale of the two worst spills in U. S. history." . Only about 800,000 barrels had been captured. [149], In late 2012, a study from Georgia Tech and Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes in Environmental Pollution journal reported that Corexit used during the BP oil spill had increased the toxicity of the oil by 52 times. PR Newser, 20 May 2010, Crisis Communications. [329] An independent audit of the GCCF, announced by Attorney General Eric Holder, was approved by Senate on 21 October 2011. The second had been intended to serve as a backup and was not completed. "[281] Some observers suggested that the Obama administration was being overly aggressive in its criticisms, which some BP investors saw as an attempt to deflect criticism of his own handling of the crisis. In May 2010, the bacterial count for the deepwater plume was 55,000 cells/ml and only 27,000 cells/ml outside of the plume. [165] However, biogeochemist Chris Reddy said natural microorganisms are a big reason why the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not far worse. Restore and conserve habitat - $4.7 billion, Replenish and protect coastal living resources - $1.8 billion, Provide and enhance recreational opportunities - $420 million, Monitoring, adaptive management and oversight - $1.5 billion. While this technique had worked in shallower water, it failed here when gas combined with cold water to form methane hydrate crystals that blocked the opening at the top of the dome. The well is situated in the Macondo Prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 253 (MC253) of the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States' exclusive economic zone. Pumping continued for eight hours, at the end of which the well was declared to be "in a static condition. On September 17 the bottom kill maneuver was successfully executed through the first relief well. [23][24][25] As of 2018[update], cleanup costs, charges and penalties had cost the company more than $65billion. [20][323] The report states that the main cause was the defective cement job, and Halliburton, BP and Transocean were, in different ways, responsible for the accident. Oil spill transport and fate models are effective tools which allow a . "[236][238][239] Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist with experience of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, advised families to evacuate the Gulf. The court ruled that BP hadn't explained "how this court or the district court should identify or even discern the existence of 'claimants that have suffered no cognizable injury. . A report from the University of Florida said that many locations showed 20% of fish with lesions, while later estimates reached 50%. As many as 8.3 billion oysters were lost. Many low-wage workers in the fishing and service industries, for example, have been seeking compensation for lost wages and jobs for three years. One year after the notorious BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and two decades after the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound off the coast of Alaska the scientific lesson is clear - microbes matter! Washington, DC 20036. [15][69] Although only "minute" quantities of oil continued to wash up in 2013, patches of tar balls were still being reported almost every day from Alabama and Florida Panhandle beaches. Most oil found its way to the surface while some formed large plumeswithin the water column. It fouled the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and launched a six-year long environmental and legal battle. Directive of Rarely", "In Standoff With Environmental Officials, BP Stays With an Oil Spill Dispersant", "Statement by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson from Press Conference on Dispersant Use in the Gulf of Mexico with U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Landry", "Dispersants flow into Gulf in 'science experiment', "BP oil spill: Obama administration's scientists admit alarm over chemicals", "Gulf oil spill: Effects of dispersants remain a mystery", "22-mile-long oily plume mapped near BP site Disaster in the Gulf", "Chemical Dispersant Made BP Oilspill 52 Times More Toxic", "Dispersant makes oil from spills 52 times more toxic", "Burning off oil from BP spill in Gulf posed little health risk, feds say in new report (video)", "Giant oil skimmer 'A Whale' deemed a bust for Gulf of Mexico spill", BP oil spill: Kevin Costner's oil-water separation machines help with clean-up, "Advances in Oil Spill Cleanup Lag Since Valdez", "BP 'Excited' Over Kevin Costner's Oil Cleanup Machine, Purchases 32", "Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response: Current Operations as of June 28", "An Audacious Decision in Crisis Gets Cautious Praise", "Dynamic autoinoculation and the microbial ecology of a deep water hydrocarbon irruption", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, "Bacteria in the gulf mostly digested gas, not oil, study finds", "How Microbes Helped Clean BP's Oil Spill", Oil-eating microbes may not be all they're cracked up to be | The Upshot Yahoo! On 2 March 2012, BP and plaintiffs agreed to settle their lawsuits. According to EPA's report, the released amount is not enough to pose an added cancer risk to workers and coastal residents, while a second research team concluded that there was only a small added risk. Repeated or excessive exposure may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver. The manual adds: Excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects. It advises, Do not get in eyes, on skin, on clothing, and Wear suitable protective clothing. For Corexit 9500 the manual advised, Do not get in eyes, on skin, on clothing, Avoid breathing vapor, and Wear suitable protective clothing. According to FOIA requests obtained by GAP, neither the protective gear nor the manual were distributed to Gulf oil spill cleanup workers. 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. [63][64][65], That means that over 10010^6USgal (380Ml) (2.4million barrels) remained in the Gulf. [318] Another was ignoring a pressure test that had failed. This coalition gained significant influence in the clean-up of the oil spill to try to gain some control over the situation. Booms extend 1848in (0.461.22m) above and below the water surface and were effective only in relatively calm and slow-moving waters. [262] NOAA had closed 86,985sqmi (225,290km2), or approximately 36% of Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, for commercial fishing causing $2.5billion cost for the fishing industry. [17] One study released in 2014 reported that tuna and amberjack that were exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs that would be expected to be fatal or at least life-shortening and another study found that cardiotoxicity might have been widespread in animal life exposed to the spill. Estimates of lost tourism dollars were projected to cost the Gulf coastal economy up to $22.7billion through 2013. "[237] In July, after testing the blood of BP cleanup workers and residents in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for volatile organic compounds, environmental scientist Wilma Subra said she was "finding amounts 5 to 10 times in excess of the 95th percentile"; she said that "the presence of these chemicals in the blood indicates exposure. Many died from ingesting oil or because it interfered with their ability to regulate their body temperatures. This adds to the already soaring greenhouse gas concentration. The study is run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and will last at least five years. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [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. So began an 87-day oil spill that spewed 3.19 million barrels, or nearly 134 million gallons, into the Gulf of Mexico. [156] In mid-June 2010, BP ordered 32machines that separate oil and water, with each machine capable of extracting up to 2,000bbl/d (320m3/d). [172], During the spill response operations, at the request of the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented a 900sqmi (2,300km2) temporary flight restriction zone over the operations area. These traditional techniques are limited in effectiveness and are expensive due to the large area affected by the BP oil spill. [324] On 8 March 2012, after BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys agreed to a class-action settlement, a court-supervised administrator Patrick Juneau took over administration. You may remember the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that happened in 2010, where 3.19 million barrels of oil spilled off the Gulf of Mexico. [360], Barbier ruled that BP had acted with conscious disregard of known risks" and rejected BP's assertion that other parties were equally responsible for the oil spill. According to a NALCO manual obtained by GAP, Corexit 9527 is an eye and skin irritant. As a result, about $64million of additional payments was made. [362] To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54billion.[363]. BP and the Department of Justice agreed to a record-setting $4.525billion in fines and other payments. Being hydrophobic compounds that are less dense than seawater, a large amount of such substances will form sheens on the ocean surface. [78] Before the tube was removed, it collected 924,000USgal (22,000bbl; 3,500m3) of oil. Official websites use .gov 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. [113] On the most demanding day, 47,849 people were assigned on the response works and over 6,000 Marine vessels, 82 helicopters, and 20 fixed-wing aircraft were involved. [116], Dispersants are said to facilitate the digestion of the oil by microbes. These studies also showed that the bodies of former spill cleanup workers carry biomarkers of "many chemicals contained in the oil". Many organizations, businesses, and private citizens filed lawsuits for economic, health, and other damages over the spill, and the final $20.8 billion settlement does not cover those. Members of the genus Pseudomonas have a very versatile metabolism and are ubiquitous; they possess a set of genes that allow them to degrade most petroleum compounds including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are the most stable and recalcitrant compounds proven to be toxic to many organisms including humans [4]. $159.5 million Civil Penalty Ruling Against Anadarko Petroleum Co. The attorney is said to have received portions of settlement claims for clients he referred to the firm. Academy Directory. This places stress on many marine and shore habitats by placing an imbalance of nutrients through decreasing the amount of oxygen in the environment, since most petroleum degradation are aerobic processes. The ever-growing increase in deep-sea oil explorations in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has been raising concerns with regard to future oil spills. A finding of gross negligence would result in a four-fold increase in the fines BP would have to pay for violating the federal Clean Water Act, and leave the company liable for punitive damages for private claims. Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment reviews the current state of the science regarding oil spill response and environmental [68], In 2013, more than 4,600,000lb (2,100t) of "oiled material" was removed from the Louisiana coast. [23] Transocean pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge as part of its $1.4billion fine. Before the spill there was an average of 100 strandings per year; since the spill the number has jumped to roughly 500. Without any opposing force, oil began to discharge into the gulf. 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. The main nutrients added to stimulate the growth of oil degrading microbes during the BP oil spills are nitrate and sulfate fertilizers [6]. [36][37] Eleven missing workers were never found despite a three-day U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) search operation and are believed to have died in the explosion. [209] Some estimates are that only 2% of the carcasses of killed mammals have been recovered. The goal of the $500 million, 10-year research initiative, known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative offsite link (GoMRI), is to improve understanding of spill events and associated environmental stresses and public health implications. [191] PAHs can harm marine species directly and microbes used to consume the oil can reduce marine oxygen levels. The oil slick was comparable in size to naturally occurring oil seeps and was not large enough to pose an immediate threat to wildlife. [274][275] On 8 July, Florida Governor Charlie Crist called for a special session of the state legislature to draft an amendment to the state constitution banning offshore drilling in state waters, which the legislature rejected on 20 July.[276][277]. He said Transocean's and Halliburton's actions were "negligent." [117][118][119], The Louisiana barrier island plan was developed to construct barrier islands to protect the coast of Louisiana. Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). [142][143][144] BP reduced Corexit use by 25,689 to 23,250USgal (97,240 to 88,010L) per day, a 9% decline. In 2011, one year after the spill, BP agreed to provide up to $1 billion toward early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico. assessedinjuries to natural resourcessuch as fish, bottom-dwelling organisms, nearshore ecosystems, birds, sea turtles, and marine mammalsand lost recreation resulting from the spill. This was described as a "sick joke" and "a very serious error of judgement" by Friends of the Earth Scotland. The explosion, which killed 11 men, caused the rig to sink and started a catastrophic oil leak from the well. 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. ", "National Contingency Plan Product Schedule", "Dispersant Monitoring and Assessment Directive Addendum", "BP is sticking with its dispersant choice", "BP Used Much Dispersant Despite E.P.A. [198] Chemicals from the spill were found in migratory birds as far away as Minnesota. Three new agencies replaced it, separating the regulation, leasing, and revenue collection responsibilities respectively, among the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Office of Natural Resources Revenue. It was largely settled when a Federal District judge approved the largest environmental damage settlement in United States history $20.8 billion on April 4, 2016. environmental disaster, Gulf of Mexico [2010]. [205][206][207][208] According to NOAA, a cetacean Unusual Mortality Event (UME) has been recognized since before the spill began, NOAA is investigating possible contributing factors to the ongoing UME from the Deepwater Horizon spill, with the possibility of eventual criminal charges being filed if the spill is shown to be connected. When Congress passed the RESTORE Act in 2012, it dedicated 80 percent of all administrative and civil penalties from the responsible parties to ecological and economic recovery efforts in the Gulf. The oil dispersant Corexit, previously only used as a surface application, was released underwater in unprecedented amounts, with the intent of making it more easily biodegraded by naturally occurring microbes. [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". The oil rig involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was owned and operated by offshore oil-drilling company Transocean and leased by the oil company BP. [52] On 10 July, the containment cap was removed to replace it with a better-fitting cap ("Top Hat Number 10"). [127][128][129], A 2011 analysis conducted by Earthjustice and Toxipedia showed that the dispersant could contain cancer-causing agents, hazardous toxins and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. [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. The study was published in the April 2016 Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. [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. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill added roughly 800 million liters of hydrocarbons to the Gulf of Mexico. [350], In January 2014, a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an effort by BP to curb payment of what it described as "fictitious" and "absurd" claims to a settlement fund for businesses and persons affected by the oil spill. Also known as the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill and BP oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is considered the largest oil spill in the petroleum industry's history. This settlement concludes the largest civil settlement ever awarded. A large scale of bioremediation was deployed during the BP oil spill crisis due to its effectiveness and lower cost [8]. [13] Subsea injection had never previously been tried but due to the spill's unprecedented nature BP together with USCG and EPA decided to use it. [224][225], In 2013, researchers found that oil on the bottom of the seafloor did not seem to be degrading,[226] and observed a phenomenon called a "dirty blizzard": oil in the water column began clumping around suspended sediments, and falling to the ocean floor in an "underwater rain of oily particles." By 26 May 2010, over 130 lawsuits relating to the spill had been filed[333] against one or more of BP, Transocean, Cameron International Corporation, and Halliburton Energy Services,[334] although it was considered likely by observers that these would be combined into one court as a multidistrict litigation. [356][357] The second phase scheduled in September 2013 focused on the flow rate of the oil and the third phase scheduled in 2014 was to consider damages. [72][73] Next, it placed a 125-tonne (280,000lb) containment dome over the largest leak and piped the oil to a storage vessel. [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. Various risks were identified and evaluated, in particular, that an increase in microbial activity might reduce subsea oxygen levels, threatening fish and other animals. The Deepwater Horizon spill resulted in the largest natural resource damage assessment ever undertaken. [116] Although usage of dispersants was described as "the most effective and fast moving tool for minimizing shoreline impact",[116] the approach continues to be investigated. [75][76], BP then inserted a riser insertion tube into the pipe and a stopper-like washer around the tube plugged at the end of the riser and diverted the flow into the insertion tube. [249], Two years after the spill, a study initiated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found biomarkers matching the oil from the spill in the bodies of cleanup workers.
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