Oil spillage by Aitana Gómez-Calcerrada

Definition

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 13:27:38 UTC

Oil spillage is an accidental release of oil into a body of water, as from a tanker, offshore drilling rig, or underwater pipeline, often presenting a hazard to marine life and the environment.

Usual solutions

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 13:28:21 UTC

How do oil spills happen?

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 13:33:08 UTC

Oil spills are more common than you might think, and they happen in many different ways. Thousands of oil spills occur in U.S. waters each year. Most of these spills are small, for example when oil spills while refueling a ship. But these spills can still cause damage, especially if they happen in sensitive environments, like beaches, mangroves, and wetlands.

Who pays for oil spill cleanup and restoration?

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 13:34:52 UTC

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 established (among other things) that those responsible for oil spills can be held responsible to pay for cleanup and restoration.

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 13:37:21 UTC

What is oil?

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:13:34 UTC

greasy flammable usually liquid substances from plant, animal, or mineral sources that do not dissolve in water and are used especially as lubricants, fuels, and food

Loss of habitat

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:15:49 UTC

Habitat losses may alter migration patterns and disrupt life cycles of animals and result in erosion of shorelines.

2023-11-09 19:18:35 UTC

2023-11-09 19:18:46 UTC

Using Oil Booms

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:19:32 UTC

The use of oil booms is a popular method of controlling oil spills. Equipment called containment booms acts like a fence to prevent the oil from further spreading or floating away.

Using Skimmers

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:20:02 UTC

Once the oil has been confined by using oil booms, skimmers or can be deployed onto boats to remove the contaminants from the water surface.

Using sorbents

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:21:10 UTC

Sorbents are materials that soak up liquids by either absorption or their adsorption. Both these properties make the process of clean up much easier.

Burning in situ

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:21:19 UTC

In situ burning, or ISB, is a technique sometimes used by people responding to an oil spill. In situ burning involves the controlled burning of oil that has spilled from a vessel or a facility, at the location of the spill.

When conducted properly, in situ burning significantly reduces the amount of oil on the water and minimizes the adverse effect of the oil on the environment.

Using dispersants

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:21:43 UTC

Dispersants, also called dispersing agents, are chemical agents used to break up oil into smaller droplets in the water column. Dispersants can be applied on surface oil or below the surface, closer to an uncontrolled release of crude oil from a well blowout source.

Hot water and high-pressure washing

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:22:06 UTC

On rocky shores the high pressure, hot water technique is very efficient in terms of freeing the rocks from oil.

Using manual labour

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:23:02 UTC

Manual recovery is the most common method of shoreline cleanup and involves teams of workers using rakes, shovels, and other tools to remove oil and debris.

Bioremediation

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:23:20 UTC

Bioremediation is any process that uses decomposers and green plants, or their enzymes, to improve the condition of contaminated environments.

Impact in economy

2023-11-09 19:26:31 UTC

Oil spills can result in closures of beaches, parks, waterways, and recreational and commercial fisheries.

Ruin a day at the beach

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:38:49 UTC

Make seafood unsafe to eat

aitanagomez2 — 2023-11-09 19:39:27 UTC

What are the chemicals of concern in seafood after an oil spill? Scientists have determined that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the chemicals in oil that are most likely to accumulate in seafood. PAHs also pose the greatest potential health risk to people who eat oiled seafood.

The hazards of oil in human life

2023-11-09 19:42:20 UTC

Air pollution from fossil fuels is can lead to respiratory, cardiovascular and other diseases and is responsible for more than 13 percent of deaths in people aged 14 and older. Fossil fuel development can also leak toxic substances into the soil and drinking water sources, causing cancer, birth defects and liver damage.