Environmental Disasters

Environmental Disasters — page 1 — CHAPTER ONE Oil Spill In 2010 an explosion shattered a quiet April evening in the Gulf of Mexico Flames roared into the air on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform Startled workers scrambled to escape Most of them reached safety Millions of gallons of light crude oil gushed from the site 4 On April 22 2010 the Deepwater Horizon sank Oil poured into Gulf waters

Environmental Disasters — page 2 — Drilling for oil over water required floating platforms that resembled barges Early offshore drilling stayed on the ocean floor in shallower water Later platforms with supports reaching to the ocean floor held the equipment and workers Then new technology made oil drilling in the deep ocean profitable Oil rigs supported the giant platforms and the production crews necessary for deep water drilling Companies rushed to lease Gulf coast sites The huge Deepwater Horizon was designed to drill in 7,000 feet 2 1 kilometers of water A blowout preventer a valve that closes off and covers the bore hole if it blows out hadn’t stopped the explosion The well’s depth made stopping the oil flow more difficult British Petroleum BP worked to plug the leak Workers drilled relief wells and capped the leak But for eighty-six days the well poured over 185 million gallons 700 million liters of oil into the Gulf This spill dwarfed the 11 million gallon 41 million liters spill of the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989 along the Alaskan coast Mississippi Louisiana Gulf of Mexico Alabama Georgia Florida oil spill 5

Environmental Disasters — page 3 — Biologists from the U S Fish and Wildlife Department worked to rescue birds from the oil spill Wildlife lived on Gulf beaches deltas barrier islands marshes and the deep ocean floor Oil affected life at every level Gushing oil made plumes in the open water Waves and currents broke apart the plumes Smaller oil blobs floated free in the water For a month the oil floated in the Gulf Then lines of oil arrived with the waves coating whatever life it reached Marshes and wetlands in Louisiana were hit first The oil moved across the coasts of Mississippi Alabama and Florida The oil also drifted down to the ocean floor Clean-up began immediately The U S government holds the driller responsible for cleaning up the spill Clean-up crews and volunteers from across the country rescued oil-covered animals and worked to collect the oil Scientists feared the immediate danger and worried about the future of the Gulf coast 6

Environmental Disasters — page 4 — ALASKA The Exxon Valdez accident taught lessons on oil spills and oil removal There oil coated 1,300 miles 2,000 kilometers of Alaskan coastline The images of oily animals shocked people The spill killed hundreds of thousands of birds otters seals eagles whales and billions of salmon and herring eggs Oil remains on some beaches today Valdez oil spill Oil and Birds Effects of an oil spill on birds shows up right away But other problems can occur too Oil damages feathers With damaged feathers birds can’t float or fly They try to clean their feathers and the oil poisons them They lose their insulating ability Birds get cold and die Oil-coated food is harmful too Liver damage or blindness from eating oil keeps animals from competing for food or escaping predators Long term oil affects organs changes behavior and damages genes 7

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