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Impact of Bp Spill

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Submitted By sangulo6
Words 855
Pages 4
Stephanie Angulo
AC1408307
SC260.2.1 Introduction to Ecology
Assignment 8: Ecological Crisis of the BP Oil Spill
April 25th 2015

On April 20th, 2010, a massive offshore drilling rig, formal known as the Deepwater Horizon, exploded and set fire. The explosion caused oil pipes to burst and spill thousands of barrels of oil into the Golf of Mexico. According to Do Something, an environmental website, have reported the death and injury of 28, more than 8,000 animals dead within six months, and 16,000 miles of coastline pollution (11 facts about BP oil spill). The BP oil spill has since became one of the worst ecological disaster in America's history. People living near the coast line has been affected due to polluted air and water. Many children had been sick and they had problem breathing fresh air. There were several issues with this oil spill: professional issues, ethics and new technology issues, legal, regulatory and political, safety issues, and environmental issues. If BP would have taken care of all these issues there had been no oil spill.
The oil spill is the result of a series of events that eventually led to tens of thousands of barrels of petroleum to be leaked into the gulf. In September, BP released a report that analyzed the events leading up to the incident. The report shows that the fire was caused by a release of hydrocarbons from the well, and them onto the oil rig (BP internal investgation team) The Deepwater horizon was equipped with fail-safe mechanisms in case anything were to go wrong. The issue is that they failed as well. Once the rig sank, it caused three breaks in the pipes. That is when the spill began. “There were multiple chances to stop this. And they all failed,” says Malcom Spaulding, a professor of ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island (Time).
The American state of Louisiana which is nearest to the oil well is the

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