Summary Week 4.doc British Petroleum Oil Spill University of Phoenix ENV/420

British Petroleum Oil Spill “On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations.” (EPA, 2017) BP Oil Spill The spill began on April 20th due to the explosion. The parties involved would be British Petroleum (BP). This operation was theirs, but there were other companies involved as well. Deepwater Horizon was the rig that was performing the operation. There was also Andarko and Mitsui who were partners to BP. Immediately, all parties involved attempted to direct the spill toward the coast, and they tried to prevent the oil from spreading. The well was not capped until July 15, 2010. This was eighty-seven days later from the oil spill. (Smithsonian, 2018) “An estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf” during this time. (Smithsonian, 2018) Clean up began, and it is continuing today, ten years later. Laws At the time of the spill the law in place was called the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). The purpose of this act was to allow for more oil and gas activities. It would share revenue and allowed the exchange of leases between companies. Since the BP oil spill in 2010, though, there have been significant changes to oil rig drilling laws. Ecological Risks • Animals were covered in black oil. • Fish were found dead in brownish sludge. • Most animals later on showed health issues related to the effects of the spill. 3 • Dolphins and sea turtles became more frequently stranded in the area. • About 167,600 sea turtles died due to the spill. • About 800,000 coastal birds died, and 200,000 offshore birds died, too. • Commercial species died in large numbers. • Deep water corals were damaged. • Bacteria grew in the oil creating more negative effects. • 1,000 miles of shoreline were impacted and eroded by the spill. Future Risk Assessment Today, drilling companies are required to have an “enhanced well design, improved blowout preventer design, testing and maintenance, and an increased number of trained inspectors.” Economic Value British Petroleum put forth six billion dollars toward the clean-up of the spill, and they also hired out 4,000 jobs to help with the clean up as well. These six billion dollars also went to help the fisheries and tourism that lost money due to the spill. It also helped bring back most of the 3,000 jobs lost at the time. Ecological Value After the spill the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforced a $5.5 billion penalty regarding the Clean Water Act (CWA) and about $8.8 billion in natural resource damages. To assess the ecological value and damage done the EPA provides the National Coastal Condition Assessment. “The National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) is a national coastal monitoring program with rigorous quality assurance protocols and standardized sampling