The Gulf Oil Spill:

Our Future in Offshore Drilling

Oil Spills

• Definition: release of crude oil or petroleum into water or on land (Swain, 1023)

• Oil on water’s surface cuts off oxygen supply to marine life below, killing it (Swain, 1023)

• Measured in gallons or barrels:1 barrel = 42 gallons (Swain, 1023)

The Deepwater Horizon Explosion & Oil Spill Timeline

• May 27, 2010 - “Top kill,” the latest, most promising method used to clog and cap spill fails, a major setback

• July 13, 2010 - BP finally places a working cap on the ruptured wellhead

• July 15, 2010 – BP officially declares the oil spill permanently capped

• Sep. 18, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon oil well sealed off to future drilling

• April 20, 2010 – Date of explosion & subsequent oil spill

• April 22, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon sinks into ocean following explosion

• April 24, 2010 – Coast guard discovers Gulf Oil Spill

• April 30, 2010 – President Obama temporarily stops new offshore drilling by United States

Challenges in the Gulf Oil Spill Clean Up Process

• Unlike previous major oil spills in that spill originates under water

• Nature of spill makes oil difficult to track, as it slowly reaches water’s surface (Nijhuis)

• Thousands of gallons leaking per day, hundreds of miles to cover

• Estimated 2.3 to 4.5 million barrels of oil leaked into Gulf (Balaguer, 8)

Challenges in Clean Up - Continued

• Local scientists believe there’s not enough clean up support (Nijhuis)

• Sensitive ecosystems in marshes are being damaged by oil and while being cleaned

• Measures scientifically known to absorb oil efficiently are put on hold until the federal government can OK permits for their use (Nijhuis)

Human Effects of the Spill

• Local hotel, tourism, and fishing-based industries are taking a huge hit (Balaguer, 8)

• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal referring to the Golf Oil Spill, “It is threatening our way of life” (Balaguer, 8)

• U.S. Government still reflecting on incident and further deep water drilling

Photo by Dave Martin / AP Images

Have we learned anything since the Gulf Oil Spill?

• Such a devastating disaster as the Gulf Oil Spill should open our eyes to a change in obtaining new energy sources and focus our efforts away from deep water drilling.

• “We must create real incentives that motivate and drive the ingenuity of all of us to find a cure, not just a treatment that will help keep America working, traveling, and living” (McCormick, 46).

Works CitedBalaguer, Alejandro. "The Black Gulf." Americas 62.5 (2010): 6-11.

MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

McCormick, Carolyn. “Offshore Drilling will Hurt Tourist and Fishing

Industries.” Offshore Drilling. Ed. Margaret Haerens. Farmington

Hills, MI.: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 41-46. Print.

Nijhuis, Michelle. “A Crude Awakening in the Gulf of Mexico.” Smithsonianmag.com. Smithsonian

Institution, Sep. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

Swain, Liz. "Oil Spills." Environmental Encyclopedia. Ed. Marci Bortman, Peter Brimblecombe, and Mary

Ann Cunningham. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2003.1023-1026. Environmental Encyclopedia. Web.

30 Nov. 2010.