2. The Problem On April 20th of this year the Deepwater Horizon oil rig leased to and managed by BP exploded, killing several workers on board and opening the underwater pipe to the oil well a mile below the surface. This well is currently outpouring an estimated 50 and 95 thousand barrels of oil a day. BP has claimed most of the fault, but has also pointed fingers at the Korean makers of the rig.
3. The Problem The outpouring of oil poses a major environmental problem as animals and plants are killed by the oil. The spill originates only 41 miles from the coast of Louisiana (the same areas still hurting from Hurricane Katrina) and so presents a large ecological problem to the fishing-based economy there. The oil spill as seen from space
4. Why? Having studied the history of the world now for an entire school year connections can be made between most disasters. In this case connections can be drawn between this disaster and other oil spills in the past. Consider the disaster of the Exxon Valdez.
5. Why? In most instances the cause of such disasters seem to be accidental, albeit often encouraged by human error and shortcutting as far as financing is considered. BP has been accused of cutting costs during setting up procedures by skipping some building checkpoints. In the Exxon Valdez spill the company was accused of overworking the employees and skipping the cost of installing an updated radar system.
6. Solution BP has assumed full responsibility for stopping the oil spill. So far they have attempted unsuccessfully to end the spill by: Covering the leak with a dome Installing a smaller pipe to “catch” the oil Capping the end of the smallest leak, which is a cracked pipe
7. Solution The United States Government has stood with environmental laws made in the 1960s-1990s to inspect most stages of BP efforts to stop the spill. Only on May 26th, 2010 did the United States Coast Guard sanction the most recent plans to halt the spill. The Government has also announced possible legislation that will create more strict building codes and enforcement for the oil rigs. A step that could possibly have prevented this current spill.
8. Solution The major effort currently going on to stop the spill is a procedure known as “Top Kill”. “Top Kill” involves injecting mud into the pipes allowing the oil exit, effectively pressurizing the flow against that of another fluid that will cancel out its motion.
9. What Can You Do… From this point the best ways that you could help would probably to fight to stop this type of accident in the future. We live a long way from the disaster and there are many highly trained engineers already involved with the project. There are plans to possibly start oil drilling here on the East Coast of North Carolina, directly in the middle of the Gulf Stream, where oil spills could be wafted internationally. You can fight that possibility by fighting against offshore drilling. Support the more alternative sources of energy instead. I suggest you read this link: http://www2.wsav.com/sav/news/local/article/east_coast_oil_drilling/111579/
10. Works Cited Bluestein, Greg, and Mike Baker. "Coast Guard Gives BP OK to Try to Stop Oil Leak - Gulf Oil Spill 2010 | Gulf Oil Spill Pictures, Gulf Oil Spill News - Salon.com." Salon.com - Salon.com. Web. 26 May 2010. <http://www.salon.com/news/louisiana_oil_spill/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/05/26/us_gulf_oil_spill_22>. "BP Starts 'top Kill' by Injecting Mud into Well - Gulf Oil Spill- Msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com. Web. 26 May 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37353392/ns/gulf_oil_spill/>. "Controlling the Spill - Gulf Oil Spill- Msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com. Web. 26 May 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37356673/ns/gulf_oil_spill/>.
