Oil_spill

Aftermath of an oil spill.
An oil spill is the unintentional release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment as a result of human activity. Oil can refer to many different materials, including crude oil, refined petroleum products (such as gasoline or diesel fuel) or by-products, ships' bunkers, oily refuse, or oil mixed in waste. Most man-made oil pollution comes from land-based activity, but the term often refers to the release of oil into the ocean or coastal waters. Public attention and subsequent regulation has tended to focus mainly on seagoing oil tankers.[1]
Petroleum-based hydrocarbons can negatively impact marine life and seabirds even at low concentrations. Oil that is denser than water settles on and penetrates the seabed, and it may take months or even years to clean up. Some methods to clean up an oil spill include the use of bioremediation, dispersants, dredging, and skimming.

Contents

1 Environmental effects
2 Cleaning up an oil spill
3 Estimating the volume of a spill
4 Largest oil spills
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
9 Credits



It should be noted that oil is also released into the environment from natural geologic seeps on the sea floor.[2]

Environmental effects
 Oiled birds
The lighter fractions of oil, such as benzene and toluene, are highly toxic, but they are also volatile and evaporate quickly. Heavier components of crude oil, such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) appear to cause the most damage. Although they are less toxic than the lighter volatiles, they persist in the environment much longer.
A heavy oil spill can also blanket estuaries and shoreline ecosystems, such as salt marshes and tidal pools, preventing gas exchange and blocking light. The oil can mix deeply into pebble, shingle, or sandy beaches, where it may remain for months or even years.
Seabirds are severely affected by spills, as the oil penetrates and opens up the structure of their plumage, reducing the insulating ability of their feathers, making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. The oiled feathers also impairs the birds' ability to fly, making it difficult or impossible to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen, birds typically ingest oil that coats their feathers, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. The limited foraging ability coupled with the ingestion of oil quickly leads to dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Most birds affected by an oil spill die in the absence of supportive human intervention.
Marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in many of the same ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of sea otters and seals, reducing the natural insulation ability of their fur, leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia. Ingestion of the oil also causes dehydration, and impaired digestion.

Cleaning up an oil spill
Some equipment used for cleanup:

Absorbent Boom, Sausage
Containment Boom (except for gasoline where confinement can cause dangerous levels of fume buildup)
Skimmers
Snares
Some methods used for cleanup:

Bioremediation: use of biological agents to remove oil.[3]
Burning: It can be done only when it is not windy, the oil has not dispersed, and the sea is calm.
Dispersants: Dispersants act as detergents, clustering around oil globules and allowing it to be carried away in the water.[4] While this makes the surface look pretty, it only spreads the oil around. This could be a benefit since smaller oil droplets, scattered with currents, may cause less harm and may be easier to degrade. However, the dispersed oil droplets readily sink and can lethally contaminate coral. Moreover, recent research indicates that dispersants themselves are toxic to corals.[5]
Do nothing: Some have advocated doing nothing and letting the oil evaporate or break down on its own, rather than making matters worse by attempting to clean up. As noted above, cleanup by detergents pollutes the seabed. Also, shoreline cleanup can further disturb the ecology by bleaching all life from the area.
Dredging: This method is used for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
Skimming: This approach can't be used if the sea is rough.
Solidifying the material.
Spill Prevention

Secondary Containment: This includes methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into the environment.
SPCC: Oil Spill Prevention Containment and Countermeasures program by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Double hulling: Building and using double hull vessels and converting single hull vessels into double hull. A double hull reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding.
Estimating the volume of a spill


 Pollution


Air pollution


Acid rain • Air Pollution Index • Air Quality Index • Atmospheric dispersion modeling • Chlorofluorocarbon • Global dimming • Global warming • Haze • Indoor air quality • Ozone depletion • Particulate • Smog • Roadway air dispersion


Water pollution


Eutrophication • Hypoxia • Marine pollution • Ocean acidification • Oil spill • Ship pollution • Surface runoff • Thermal pollution • Wastewater • Waterborne diseases • Water quality • Water stagnation


Soil contamination


Bioremediation • Herbicide • Pesticide •Soil Guideline Values (SGVs)


Radioactive contamination


Actinides in the environment • Environmental radioactivity • Fission product • Nuclear fallout • Plutonium in the environment • Radiation poisoning • radium in the environment • Uranium in the environment


Other types of pollution


Invasive species • Light pollution • Noise pollution • Radio spectrum pollution • Visual pollution


Government acts


Clean Air Act • Clean Water Act • Kyoto Protocol • Water Pollution Control Act • Environmental Protection Act 1990


Major organizations


DEFRA • Environmental Protection Agency • Global Atmosphere Watch • Greenpeace • National Ambient Air Quality Standards


Related topics


Natural environment

For an oil spill on water, one can calculate the total volume of oil by measuring the surface area of the spill and the average thickness of the film.[6]





Film Thickness

Quantity Spread


Appearance

in

mm

gal/sq mi

L/ha


Barely visible

0.0000015

0.0000381

25

0.365


Silvery sheen

0.0000030

0.0000762

50

0.731


First trace of color

0.0000060

0.0001524

100

1.461


Bright bands of color

0.0000120

0.0003048

200

2.922


Colors begin to dull

0.0000400

0.0010160

666

9.731


Colors are much darker

0.0000800

0.0020320

1332

19.463

Largest oil spills
 Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill.

Oil Spills of over 100,000 metric tons or 30 million US gallons, ordered by Tonnes[a]


Spill / Tanker
Location
Date
*Tonnes of crude oil
Reference


Gulf War oil spill

Persian Gulf

January 23, 1991

136,000 - 1,500,000

[7][8]


Ixtoc I oil well

Gulf of Mexico

June 3, 1979 - March 23, 1980

454,000 - 480,000

[9]


Atlantic Empress / Aegean Captain

Trinidad and Tobago

July 19, 1979

287,000

[10][11]


Fergana Valley

Uzbekistan

March 2, 1992

285,000

[8]


Nowruz oil field

Persian Gulf

February 1983

260,000

[12]


ABT Summer

700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Angola

1991

260,000

[10]


Castillo de Bellver

Saldanha Bay, South Africa

August 6, 1983

252,000

[10]


Amoco Cadiz

Brittany, France

March 16, 1978

223,000

[10][8]


Amoco Haven tanker disaster

Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy

1991

144,000

[10]


Odyssey

700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Nova Scotia, Canada

1988

132,000

[10]


Sea Star

Gulf of Oman

December 19, 1972

115,000

[10][8]


Torrey Canyon

Scilly Isles, UK

March 18, 1967

80,000 - 119,000

[10][8]


Irenes Serenade

Navarino Bay, Greece

1980

100,000

[10]


Urquiola

A Coruña, Spain

May 12, 1976

100,000

[10]

One metric ton of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons, or 7.33 barrels.

See also
Hydrocarbon
Oil
Petroleum
Pollution
Notes

↑ Petroleum: Oil Spill Portable Planetariums. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Welcome to the UCSB Hydrocarbon Seeps web site UCSB Hydrocarbon Seeps Project. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Oil Program US EPA. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Detergent and Oil Spills NEWTON BBS. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑  Carolyn Barry, 2007, Slick Death: Oil-spill treatment kills coral, Science News 172:67. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Tchobanoglous, George, Franklin L. Burton, and H. David Stensel, Wastewater Engineering Treatment and Reuse (McGraw-Hill Series in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003, ISBN 0070418780).

↑ Draffan, George. Major Oil Spills Endgame. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 History The Mariner Group. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ John S. Patton, Mark W. Rigler, Paul D. Boehm & David L. Fiest, 1981, Ixtoc 1 oil spill: flaking of surface mousse in the Gulf of Mexico. NPG (Nature Publishing Group). Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Statistics ITOPF. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Atlantic Empress/Aegean Captain Cedre. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

↑ Oil Spills and Disasters infoplease. Retrieved March 12, 2008.


ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Fingas, Mervin F., and Jennifer Charles. 2001. The Basics of Oil Spill Cleanup. Boca Raton, Fla: Lewis Publishers. ISBN 1566705371
Nelson-Smith, A. 1973. Oil Pollution and Marine Ecology. London, UK: Elek Scientific. ISBN 0236154117
Park, Ken (ed.). 2004. The World Almanac and Book of Facts. New York, NY: World Almanac. ISBN 0886879116
Reis, John C. 1996. Environmental Control in Petroleum Engineering. Houston, TX: Gulf Publ. ISBN 0884152731
Tchobanoglous, George, Franklin L. Burton, and H. David Stensel. 2003. Wastewater Engineering Treatment and Reuse. McGraw-Hill Series in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0070418780
Oil Spill Case Histories 1967-1991 NOAA/Hazardous Materials and Response Division. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
External links
All links retrieved November 17, 2022.

www.cedre.fr Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution
International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation

Credits
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