The Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill

On April 20, 2010, a blowout on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig owned by British Petroleum (BP), led to about 4.1 billion barrels of oil being spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. Leakage was not fully sealed until September 19, 2010 and reports suggest the well was still leaking as late as 2013. Oil dispersants with additional harmful effects were also added to the water in a questionable clean-up effort by BP that turned Gulf Coast waters into a soup of toxins. The result was an environmental catastrophe causing immediate deaths in the many marine species in the Gulf coast. Long lasting effects including heart defects in developing fish, devastation of bird habitat, sea turtle stranding, mass stranding and mortality in dolphins, coral destruction, harm to plankton and imbalance in the whole marine food web are still being felt to this day. Furthermore, the loss of environmental capital decimated the commercial and recreational fisheries as well as the tourism industry.

Coast guard and other organizations attempting
cleanup of the spill during the crisis (NOAA, 2015).

The Punishment Fits The Crime

Government sought punishment after finding that BP and its affiliates displayed gross negligenceand the catastrophe was easily preventable. The hope was that the punishment held the responsible parties accountable to cover the damages caused by this disaster and to deter anyone from making the same mistakes that led to this tragedy. I am delighted to report that after five years of negotiation, the largest offshore oil spill in US history will face an apt punishment. BP will receive the largest environmental fine in US history at $20.8 billion under various laws ensuring compensation.

Good but not Great

However, I am disappointed with the subtleties of this settlement. It is true that $5.9 billion will go to state and local governments to compensate for economic damage that communities suffered and around $12 billion in natural resource damages and the clean water act is allocatedto restoration of the region. This gives Gulf Coast ecosystems a fighting chance. However,Alabama and the Pointe-au-Chien first nations believe they have not received enough to regain what they lost and the settlement has not even taken effect yet. Furthermore, Louisiana is fighting for leftover money from restoration funds to go to infrastructure projects. This may encourage governments to cut corners in restoration for infrastructure that may further harm the gulf ecosystem. I find it appalling that some are treating the settlement like found money and not as an obligation to fix the damage to the Gulf Coast region that so many rely on.

Will It Happen Again?

The most overlooked issue is the effectiveness in deterring further atrocities. This may discourage bad practices in the Gulf and the US but now, companies may just look elsewhere to get away with poor standards. For example, BP is now planning offshore drilling located in the Great Australian Bight, a critical habitat for Australian marine species. The plan is being criticized for poor risk assessment and possibility of another disaster of similar magnitude. With this information, I can’t help but worry that we will soon be hit with another environmental catastrophe.

A coastal region along the crucial Great Australian Bight that could be heavily impacted
by new proposed drilling by BP (Smith, 2015).

Click here to see the full extent of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Satellite images of the developing oil spill

References

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Conathan, M., and Lomax, A. 2015. Where will bp’s $18.7 billion deepwater horizon settlement go? The Center for American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org.

Incardona, J.P., Gardiner, L.D., Linbo, T.L., Brown, T.L., Esbaugh, A.J., Mager, E.M., et al. 2014. Deepwater horizon crude oil impacts the developing hearts of large, predatory pelagic fish. PNAS111(15): 1510-1518. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1320950111.

KNOE. 2015. Louisiana indian tribe continues with bp lawsuit despite settlement. KNOE News.Retrieved from http://www.knoe.com.

Lysiak, M. 2010. Oil spill disaster: survival of grand isle (la.) in doubt with tourism cash trickling to hault. The New York Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com.

Macdonald-Smith, A. 2015. BP’s bight oil drill approvals process is ‘flawed’ says nick xenophon. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au.

Milman, O. 2015. BP oil spill in great australian bight would be catastrophic, modelling shows. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com.

Mufson, S. 2011. BP, transocean, halliburton blamed by presidential gulf oil spill commission. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com.

National Wildlife Federation. 2015. How does the bp oil spill impact wildlife and habitat? National Wildlife Federation. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org.

NOAA. 2015. Deepwater horizon oil spill. Office of Response and Restoration. Retrieved from response.restoration.noaa.gov.

Ocean Portal Team. 2015. Gulf oil spill. Ocean Portal. Retrieved from http://ocean.si.edu.

Paul, J.H., Hollander, D., Coble, P., Daly, K.L., Murasko, S., English, D., et al. 2013. Toxicity and mutagenicity of gulf of mexico waters during and after the deepwater horizon oil spill. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47(17): 9651-9659. doi: 10.1021/es401761h.

Robertson, C., and Krauss, C. 2010. Gulf spill is the largest of its kind, scientists say. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com.

Rushe, D. 2015. BP set to pay largest environmental fine in us history for gulf oil spill. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com.

Rushe, D. 2015. Deepwater horizon: bp got ‘punishment it deserved’ loretta lynch says. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com.

Sharp, J. 2015. Alabama gulf coast leaders sift through bp settlement confusion, prepare for possible regional divide. Alabama News. Retrieved from http://www.al.com.

Siddhartha, M., Kimmel, D.G., Snyder, J., Scalise, K., McGlaughon, B.D., Roman, M.R., et al. 2012. Macondo-1 well oil-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesozooplankton from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geophysical Research Letters. 39 (1) doi: 10.1029/2011GL049505.

Tangley, L. 2010. Bird habitats threatened by oil spill. National Wildlife Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org.

Wheeler, R. 2015. Wheeler: texas’ hunters and anglers: bp’s oil spill settlement should restore the coast. The Houston Chronicle.  Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/.

White, H.K., Hsing, P.Y., Cho, W., Shank, T.M., Cordes, E.E., Quattrini, A.M., et al. 2012. Impact of the deepwater horizon oil spill on a deep-water coral community in the gulf of mexico. PNAS 109(50): 303-308. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1118029109.

Wold, A. 2015. Bobby jindal wants savings from restoration project funded by bp settlement steered to help pay for elevated la. 1. The Advocate. Retrieved from http://theadvocate.com/.