The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Source: https://www.tribtalk.org/2018/04/27/remembering-the-bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/
Welcome back to our blog! Today we will be focusing on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill of 2010. On April 20, 2010, an explosion at the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig released over 130 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the biggest oil spill ever in U.S. waters and remains one of the worst environmental disasters in world history. 11 rig workers lost their lives as well as untold millions of marine mammals, sea turtles, birds, and fish. Oil gushed into one of the planet’s most biodiverse marine habitats for 87 long days and the impacts can still be felt today (Meiners, 2020).
Effects on Marine Life
PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, is a chemical that is carcinogenic in high concentrations and can interfere with biological processes. PAH was found up to 8 miles from the wreckage site and was later found to be causing cardiac arrest in fish. Additionally, pockets of methane led to oxygen-starved zones, which caused marine life to smother. Large numbers of fish kills in the area were reported. Prior to the spill, only about 0.1% of fish in the Gulf of Mexico had lesions or sores. In the aftermath of the spill, that number spiked to 20%. Pregnant dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico were found to have a higher incidence of in-utero infections, fetal issues, and late-term pregnancy failures. In fact, in the 6 years following the spill, over 170 stillborn and stranded juvenile dolphins have been found in Gulf waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Environmental Trainers, n.d).
Effects on Tourism
Oil-covered wildlife and beaches led to the loss of more than $23 billion in tourism-related income, lost jobs, crushed small businesses, and depressed home values (Metzger, 2018). When an oil spill occurs, not only are tourist destinations directly affected in areas where the spill has flooded land, washed up on beaches, or permeated the air with a strong odor, but the tourism industry also faces serious reputational impacts. The spill had a negative impact on people’s intentions to visit Louisiana: 26% of people who had previously intended to visit the state had postponed or canceled their trips. 60% of hotels surveyed had experienced cancellations and in the same time frame, 42% of hotels began to experience difficulty booking future events (CRED, n.d).
What can be learned from the BP Oil Spill?
Our reliance on old, fossil-fuel-based technologies is devastating for the planet, for society, and for business. This spill is in many ways an expected result of the path we have chosen. Given the declining stocks of easy-access oil, our addiction is forcing us to dig up extremely remote oil — something very, very hard to do that comes with enormous complexity and myriad risks of catastrophic failure. Governments should ask companies to invest far more in safety. It’s a reasonable outcome that regulators demand that companies invest not only in the technologies to dig oil up but also in cutting edge ways to greatly reduce the risk of it going all over the place (Winston, 2010).
Thank you and see you next week!
Sources:
- Conversations for Responsible Economic Development (CRED) (n.d) “Tourism industry impacts: the Deepwater Horizon spill” Retrieved from: http://credbc.ca/tourism-industry-impacts-the-deepwater-horizon-spill/
- Meiners, J. (2020) “Ten years later, BP oil spill continues to harm wildlife—especially dolphins” Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/04/how-is-wildlife-doing-now–ten-years-after-the-deepwater-horizon/
- Metzger, L. (2018) “Remembering the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill” Retrieved from: https://www.tribtalk.org/2018/04/27/remembering-the-bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/
- National Environmental Trainers (n.d) “The Environmental Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” Retrieved from: https://www.natlenvtrainers.com/blog/article/the-environmental-impact-of-the-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill
- Winston, A. (2010) “Five Lessons From the BP Oil Spill” Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2010/06/the-bp-oil-spill-top-5-lessons.html
