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Devestation of Neglagance

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Submitted By michele1018
Words 508
Pages 3
Recent news of the unprecedented fines being imposed on the energy supplying supergiant British Petroleum has reignited the environmental ramifications of gross negligence and unethical business practices of corporations operating on a global scale. The Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not the first, and is quickly surpassing the widely remembered Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 in infamy and tragedy. Both had and will have immediate and long term effects on the natural ecosystems and surrounding human population. The 1989 oil spill has been determined to be caused by negligence, mainly its crew at the helm. Similarly, negligence on a corporate level led to the malfunctioning equipment on the BP oil platform resulting in multiple indictments and fines totaling $13.7 billion. Exxon was ordered to pay only $1.9 billion (adjusted for inflation). The drastic differences in fines are clearly evident and can be explained with the numbers behind the events. Exxon Valdez released approximately 11 million gallons of oil, equivalent to about 17 Olympic size swimming pools, which traveled hundreds of miles along the shores in the Gulf of Alaska. This is in comparison to the astounding 200 million gallons released in the Gulf of Mexico over an 87 day period by the offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon. BP was unable to successfully stop this steady leak during this time, allowing it to spread to the surrounding 16,000 miles of shoreline, as well as settling into a 1,235 square mile “bathtub ring” on the ocean floor. The initial effects of each on the environment were seen within months to a few years, including tens of thousands of oceans birds washing ashore in Alaska. The BP spill may result in the local dolphin population to decline up to 17% , and an already endangered gulf sea turtle population to become stranded 5 times more often than prior to the spill. Long term effects on the local wildlife population are still being felt by the relatively smaller spill in Alaska. The herring population was a vital role in the local food web and an economic resource for the fishing industry in the area. Four years after the spill, that population collapsed, and has still not recovered leaving an imbalance in that web, and a deficit in the industry. The long term effects from nearly twenty times the amount of oil being released into the Gulf’s ecosystem will continue to be revealed as time goes on. Lastly, and weighing just as heavily, the catastrophic oil spill in 2010 resulted in the deaths of 11, and injuries in 17 others. The events leading to the detrimental effects on the environment and local economies can be attributed to factors such as: complacency, negligence, ignorance or possibly just plain greed that lead to the indictment of corporate figureheads. In both, there is no doubt that the final tally of effects remains to be seen. Changes to policy have been put in place to prevent another Exxon Valdez. Hopefully, the same will be said for the Deepwater Horizon.

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