Crude oil is probably responsible for the most and the worst pollution disasters over the decades. None is more prominent that the British Petroleum oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

A deep drilling rig caught fire and burned out of control for three days before eventually sinking to the bottom of the ocean; 11 people were killed and many injured. The accident severed pipelines deep under the ocean that pumped millions of gallons of oil into the sea. The resultant oil slick is considered the worst in American history. British Petroleum had published an environmental analysis prior to permission being given for the rig to commence operations. In the report British Petroleum considered it was almost impossible for an accident to happen to a deep exploration rig that would result in substantial crude oil leakage; the impossible happened.

Gas and oil mixed in the well head and despite many procedures being in place, no-one noticed the explosive build up until it was too late. No shut-down actions were taken and once the massive explosion occurred, there were no methods left to prevent the leak from worsening.

The well head, under normal circumstances, is designed to produce a minimum of 1 million gallons of crude oil per day; the estimated amount that leaked from the severed pipes was 200,000 gallons a day. The U.S. president halted any further offshore oil drilling until the full reasons for the disaster could be ascertained.

In February 2012 a lengthy trial is to begin to assess British Petroleum’s liability for the billions of dollars of damage that has been caused by the oil slick.

Effects of Oil Pollution

Because oil is less dense than water, it floats on top. In some respects it makes clearing the oil up easier as it is clearly visible. However, one barrel of crude oil has the potential to spread over a vast area of water. It’s black and restricts sunlight from penetrating the water; effectively it’s like night time under the water all the time. This means that plants are unable to react with light and they die, so the food chain starts to collapse.

Any birds or other creatures that come into contact with the thick black crude oil get stuck. They lose buoyancy and drown. If they attempt to clean the oil, it gets ingested causing kidney failure and ultimately death. Any animal coated in the crude oil will die, unless human intervene and even then there is a high chance they will never recover.

Once the oil reaches landfall, then coastal areas are threatened by the oil pollution. In terms of the effect on humans, it’s hard to estimate the damage that gets caused. Whole communities can be affected, particularly those that rely on fishing for a living. Cleaning up crude oil take considerable time and expertise; in many instances it’s never completely cleaned up. Today there are many oil slicks out at sea that have broken away from the main slick and although the oil does eventually dissipate, it takes decades.

Visit www.B-H-A.com for more information on environmental coverage and our pollution liability policies.

Visit http://www.b-h-a.com for more information on environmental coverage and our pollution http://www.b-h-a.com/cpl liability policies.

Author Bio: Visit www.B-H-A.com for more information on environmental coverage and our pollution liability policies.

Category: Business
Keywords: Environment, Insurance, Business, Oil