BP Oil Spill

            Remember the BP oil spill in 2011? On April 20^th, 2010 an oil-drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded in flames 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It’s estimated that a total of 4.9 million barrels of oil, or 205.8 gallons, leaked from the well.

The BP oil spill is a perfect example of a man-made disaster, which we discussed in the beginning of the semester. According to the New York Times, BP was running weeks behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget prior to the explosion. Federal investigators concluded that BP took tons of shortcuts that led to the oil spill.                  

               

   The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement report stated that the pollution in the Gulf of Mexico was a result of poor risk management, last-minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response and insufficient emergency bridge response training for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon. The report concluded that BP, as the well’s owner, was ultimately responsible for the accident. But it also said that BP’s chief contractors, Transocean, which owned the mobile drilling rig, and Halliburton, which was responsible for the cementing operations, shared the blame for many of the fatal mistakes.

If BP acted, as it should have, the oil spill would not have occurred. Instead, BP used dodgy cement for monetary reasons, misinterpreted a pressure test, and did not spot a leak.            

BP acted in its own-self-interest as any state would. BP knew that they it was running weeks behind schedule and severely under budget so BP took shortcuts in order to ensure its own safety. BP spent less money on cement and didn’t follow the Federal Laws and did not train their staff correctly. The disaster was a direct result of BP, Halliburton, and Deepwater Horizons actions but it was also worsened by their actions as well. The situation was made worse because none of the companies listed above wanted to admit fault and realize the extent of the situation. The oil spill was initially worsened by the immediate action taken after the oil spill.            

The example of the BP oil spill just goes to show environmental disasters can be byproducts of human action. If BP hadn’t cut back on spending money, the oil spill may not have happened. Which is something we have been talking about in class for weeks. We discussed how human action could worsen a disaster but… can human action cause a natural disaster? The answer is obviously yes.

Oil Spill today:

The BP oil spill also ties into to our discussion for tomorrow’s class, media coverage of disasters. Initially, the media made it clear that the BP oil spill was the worst environmental disaster that America had ever faced and called for immediate action. The media stressed the impact the oil spill would have on our fisheries and our economy as a whole with a strong emphasis on the eleven individuals who died. The media spent months on the BP oil spill, making the disaster even bigger then it was. In fact, the action that the media called for made the extent of the situation even worse initially and the media predictions about the extent of the disaster were far off. It is interesting how the media can determine the attention a disaster will receive even if the information they publicize is incorrect.                                                                                                                            

         In this case, however, the media coverage was so widely publicized because the disaster directly affected the United States of America. If this oil spill were to occur much further away from our borders, it would be interesting to see if the oil spill would receive as much help and/or as much air time as the BP oil spill did. Location and US self-interest are a big factor in deciding how the media portrays disasters, which is why it makes sense that the BP oil spill was so highly publicized. So what do you think, if an oil spill were to occur (same extent) further away from the US… would there be as much media coverage or would the media dismiss the oil spill and talk about the missing plane instead?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/science/earth/15spill.html

http://www.nals.org/?p=3503