Summery
It’s finally over! The well has been capped, after the BP oil rig exploded and caught fire April 20th; in the Gulf of Mexico , causing one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in U.S. history. The federal government officially claimed the well as dead on September 19, 2010. BP drilled a relief well 18,000 ft beneath the surface of the ocean and pumped cement into it. This created a final seal that will prevent any oil or gas from escaping the well. A retired coast guard office, who led the federal spill response, said that the well will cause no more harm to the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists recently found out about a new underwater plume of oil and found a thick layer of oily sediment on the floor of the ocean. This plume stretches for dozens of miles and in all directions, across the sea floor. The oil however is not staying down. It started to resurface and wash up upon the shore of the gulf and the beaches of Florida. This could very well continue for many years. Shrimp fishing in the gulf has come to a standstill and even if shrimp are caught, people are refusing to buy. This oil spill is affecting many people’s lives and is horrible. There also have been reports of new illnesses caused by the oil and the chemicals used to clean it up. An upside other than the capping of the well is that microbes are consuming the oil without depleting enough oxygen to create dead zones; which are areas in the ocean that marine life cannot survive in. It is clear that the full extent of the damage done by the oil spill won’t be known for many years; there is no telling what will happen to the animals in the surrounding areas and the long term effects on the species that live there.
Opinion:
I think that it is great that the rig is capped that way no more pollution is escaping into the ocean. We still have a huge mess to clean up but at least it isn't going to get any worse. The people who capped it did it great and succeeded. It did take a little bit long but at least the mess can start to be cleaned up. I am very glad that the well is capped.
1. Why did it take so long to cap?
2. How many gallons of oil were released into the ocean?
3. How much damage has been done?
4. How long will it take to clean the rest up?
5. Will we be seeing the affects from this spill forever?
1. I think it took so long to cap because it was such a large oil spill. It was recorded as the largest oil spill in history. It pumped so many gallons of oil the it was too hard to control. By the time they finally sealed it, it may have possibly been too late.
ReplyDelete2. I think there were thousands of oil that was released into the ocean. Since it took so long to fix oil just kept coming. Some say that they was 30,000 to 60,000 gallons of oil each day. But They was an estimate of 3 million- 4 million gallons of oil released into the ocean.
3. There has been so much damage done to the surroundings of the oil spill. One of them is the environment the sea life has been trapped by the oil spill and has lost their homes. Also many of the fishing businesses have decreased. For example, the shrimp company has almost shut down completely because of the lack of shrimp that are available.
4. I think this process of cleaning up the oil will take an extremely long time. By the fact the it took so long to seal up, I think it will take almost a year to clean up and be back to normal.
5. I don't think we will be seeing the effects forever but I do think we be seeing them for quite a long time. The sea life will have to regain its strength and so will the fisheries and fisherman.
Questions to think About
1. Who is being affected the most?
2. Who is responsible for this disaster?
3. How many sea life organisms are being affected by this?
4. How many fisheries have been shut down or damaged by the oil spill?
I think this is a good thing that the BP oil spill if caped. On the other hand i think this should have never happen in the first place. BP should have had better safety precautions for their drill.
ReplyDeleteIn answer of your questions.
1) Because no one had a back up plan for a spill that deep( but they should have).
2)To much!!!!!!!!!!( I don't really know the number but i think it's close to uncountable).
3) To much again!!!! countless number of people have be effected from it's damages for to many reasons.
4) It is unclear ho long it will take to clean the whole thing up.
5)That is a possibility especially if the ecosystem doesn't recover.