...Amina Usman Sali Chem. 410 (oil spill control) Professor Linus Okoro February 2 2012 Deep Sea oil spill cleanup Techniques: Its applicability Trade – offs and Advantages (summary review paper). Efforts have been made largely to clean up oil spill. These factors include knowing the type of oil, its density, water temperature, volume of the spill, waves, speed etc. Techniques like low tech approaches which involves containment and skimming and burning: and high tech such as varying of sophisticated dispersants e.g. giant separators have been remedies used for oil spill cleanup. Oil spill have destroyed a number of marine and terrestrial wildlife species. A terrestrial animal that depends on seafood dies of hunger due to the destruction of marine food by oil spill. Some marine animal that live and breathe in water dies off because of the contamination of water. The first step to approach when handling oil spill cleanup is quick action. Once we find out there is a spill, speed and accuracy is important for cleanup process. Locating the source of oil spill, its size and thickness etc should follow. According to Larry Nies speed and accuracy can be achieved by using a method known as visual observation from the air, with still and photographing. This method is the cheapest but not the best, it has limitations like inability to see well due to atmospheric and sea conditions etc. A better method but expensive one is the use of airborne sensors. There are some short comes involved...
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...pollutants in order to return the environment to its original natural condition. This would include an environmental problem such as contaminated soil or groundwater. In a non-polluted environment, bacteria, fungi, protists, and other microorganisms are constantly at work breaking down organic matter. What would occur if an organic pollutant such as oil contaminated this environment? Some of the microorganisms would die, while others capable of eating the organic pollution would survive. Bioremediation works by providing these pollution-eating organisms with fertilizer, oxygen, and other conditions that encourage their rapid growth. These organisms would then be able to break down the organic pollutant at a correspondingly faster rate. In fact, bioremediation is often used to help clean up oil spills. Bioremediation of a contaminated site typically works in one of two ways. In the case described above, ways are found to enhance the growth of whatever pollution-eating microbes might already be living at the contaminated site. In the second, specialized microbes are added to degrade the contaminants. Bioremediation provides a good cleanup strategy for some types of pollution, but as you might expect, it will not work for all. For example, bioremediation may not provide a feasible strategy at sites with high concentrations of chemicals that are toxic to most microorganisms. These chemicals include metals such as cadmium or lead, and salts such as sodium chloride. Nonetheless, bioremediation...
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...Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and BP Environmental Clean-Up Deb Schoenwether MGMT 312 Creativity & Innovation December 8, 2010 Submitted By: Joe Panayiotou Angela Merryfield Sonya Meggs Lisa Parker Kristi Mathews Introduction: (Lisa Parker) On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 28 people. It was later found that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking oil from the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Refinery into the Gulf of Mexico. In a report on the incident issued by BP on September 8, the company admitted that there were weaknesses in the cement design and testing. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. BP is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. BP is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. (Wikipedia, 2010) This significant oil spill poses a serious threat to people, industries, businesses, wildlife and beaches along the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. BP states that they will recruit a series of teams to clean-up the shorelines and workers will receive safety training before clean-up takes place...
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...Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Contents I. Introduction II. History of Bioremediation 1. ‘Courtship’ Period (Pre-1989) 2. ‘Honeymoon’ Period (1989-1991) 3. ‘Establishment’ Period (since 1992) III. The Biological and Chemical Processes of Bioremediation 1. Biodegradation a. Biological Process b. Degrading Species c. Chemical Process d. Need for Bioremediation 2. Bioremediation a. Seeding with Microbial Cultures b. Environmental Modification IV. Recent Applications of Bioremediation Techniques and their Effectiveness 1. Amoco Cadiz 2. Exxon Valdez 3. Mega Borg 4. Apex Barges 5. Arabian Gulf War V. Conclusion Bibliography Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Abstract. The increasing number of marine oil spills asks for effective solutions for the environment. Bioremediation techniques have become a major mechanism for removing oil residues on the affected shorelines. Among the different techniques to enhance natural biodegradation by indigenous microorganisms, seeding of new bacteria and fertilizing the indigenous populations have attracted the most interest. The application of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of fertilizers have shown to be most effective in accelerating the biodegradation process and at the same time to be environmentally safe. I. Introduction Since the freighter Pallas caused the worst oil pollution of the tidel shallows in the North Sea...
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...of Bioremediation Techniques and their Effectiveness 1. Amoco Cadiz 2. Exxon Valdez 3. Mega Borg 4. Apex Barges 5. Arabian Gulf War V. Conclusion Bibliography Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Abstract. The increasing number of marine oil spills asks for effective solutions for the environment. Bioremediation techniques have become a major mechanism for removing oil residues on the affected shorelines. Among the different techniques to enhance natural biodegradation by indigenous microorganisms, seeding of new bacteria and fertilizing the indigenous populations have attracted the most interest. The application of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of fertilizers have shown to be most effective in accelerating the biodegradation process and at the same time to be environmentally safe. I. Introduction Since the freighter Pallas caused the worst oil pollution of the tidel shallows in the North Sea last November, thousands of sea birds and probably numerous other species lost their lives in the polluted water. The responsible parties have not yet taken any measures to mitigate the damage, neither have they provided for the prevention of a similar catastrophe in the future. This is especially striking as the first devastating oil spill occurred no less than ten years ago, when the tanker Exxon Valdez ruptured in Prince William Sound. The...
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...Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a suite of commonsense requirements that together will help combat climate change, reduce air pollution that harms public health, and provide greater certainty about Clean Air Act permitting requirements for the oil and natural gas industry. The proposals are part of the agency’s broad-based strategy under the President’s Climate Action Plan to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane and smog-forming volatile organic compounds from this rapidly growing industry. The proposal will complement rules the agency issued in 2012 to reduce pollution from the oil and natural gas industry while helping ensure that development of these energy resources is safe and responsible. The World Health Organization defines air pollution as “the presence of material in the air in such concentration which are harmful to man and his environment.” In fact air pollution is the occurrence or addition of foreign particles, gases, and other pollutants into the air which have an adverse effect on human beings, animals, and vegetation. The various causes of air pollution are: combustion of natural gas, coal and wood in industries, automobiles, aircraft, railways, thermal plants, agricultural burning, kitchens, metallurgical processing (mineral dust, fumes containing fluorides, sulphides and metallic pollutants like lead, chromium, nickel, beryllium, arsenic vanadium, cadmium, zinc, mercury), processing industries like cotton textiles...
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...The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst disaster in U.S. history.(Worse than not graduating high school) Within days of the April 20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people, underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was capped on July 15, 2010 (87 days later), an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf. The well was located over 5,000 feet beneath the water’s surface in the vast frontier of the deep sea—a permanently dark environment, marked by constantly cold temperatures just above freezing and extremely high pressures. Scientists divide the ocean into at least three zones, and the deep ocean accounts for about three-quarters of Earth’s total ocean volume. Immediately after the explosion, workers from BP and Transocean (owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig), and many government agencies tried to control the spread of the oil to beaches and other coastal ecosystems using floating booms to contain surface oil and chemical oil dispersants to break it down underwater. Additionally, numerous scientists and researchers descended upon the Gulf region to gather data. Researchers are still trying to understand the spill and its impact on marine life, the Gulf coast, and human communities. Over the course of 87 days, the damaged Macondo wellhead, located around 5,000 feet beneath the ocean's...
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...Center for Management Research N BECG 045 ot The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill D o This case was written by Jaya D. Sangtani, under the direction of Vivek Gupta, ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR). It was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. 2005, ICFAI Center for Management Research. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means- electronic or mechanical, without permission. To order copies, call 0091-40-2343-0462/63/64 or write to ICFAI Center for Management Research, Plot # 49, Nagarjuna Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or email icmr@icfai.org. Website: www.icmrindia.org BECG/045 THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL “ExxonMobil’s tactics are well-known, and this is a classic case of deny, dupe, and delay. Just as it denies the science on climate change, it denies that oil from the spill is causing damage in the Prince William Sound. And on both issues it is running campaigns to dupe the public into thinking it is an environmentally and socially responsible corporation.”1 - Anita Goldsmith, Greenpeace International Campaigner. “Exxon would meet its obligations to all those who have suffered damage from the spill.”2 op INTRODUCTION Lawrence Rawls, Chairman, Exxon. y - ...
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...What is an oil spill?(JDB) An oil spill is a type of pollution which consists on the dumping of petrol into the environment, mainly into oceans although it can also occur on land. These oil spills are mainly caused by the release of crude oils, wells, platforms and drilling rings. These oil spills, can very well damage the environment and therefore causing many consequences to different groups of animals and pollute the area where the dumping took place. Deepwater Horizon spill (MBR) This devastating event began the 20 of April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. it took away with it eleven lives and injuring seventeen more it is considered the largest oil spill ever in the history of the petroleum industry. For about 87 days there was a sea-floor oil gusher, until the 15 of July...
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...Valdez Oil Spill Case Studies of Four Sites in Prince William Sound, 1989-1994 September 1997 Seattle, Washington noaa NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION National Ocean Service Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment National Ocean Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce The Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment (ORCA) provides decisionmakers comprehensive, scientific information on characteristics of the oceans, coastal areas, and estuaries of the United States of America. The information ranges from strategic, national assessments of coastal and estuarine environmental quality to real-time information for navigation or hazardous materials spill response. Through its National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, ORCA uses uniform techniques to monitor toxic chemical contamination of bottom-feeding fish, mussels and oysters, and sediments at about 300 locations throughout the United States. A related NS&T Program of directed research examines the relationships between contaminant exposure and indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish. ORCA provides critical scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard during spills of oil or hazardous materials into marine or estuarine environments. This support includes spill trajectory predictions, chemical hazard analyses, and assessments of the sensitivity of marine and estuarine environments to spills. The program ...
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...(Reuters) - With the failure this weekend of BP's "top kill" attempt to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, fears are growing that the economic and environmental impact of the nearly six-week-old spill can only spread. Here are some facts about effects of the worst ever U.S. oil spill, triggered by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig: THE SCALE OF THE CATASTROPHE "This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on Sunday. "There could be oil coming up 'til August." Browner told CBS's "Face The Nation," "We are prepared for the worst." Louisiana, the nearest state to BP's gushing undersea well that is 42 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, has been the most impacted by the spill so far. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said this week that more than 100 miles of Louisiana's 400-mile coast had so far been impacted by the spilled oil. State officials have reported sheets of oil soiling wetlands and seeping into marine and bird nurseries, leaving a stain of sticky crude on cane that binds the marshes together. Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, saw dying cane and "no life" in parts of Pass-a-Loutre wildlife refuge. "Oil debris", in the form of tar balls and surface "sheen", has also been reported coming ashore since the April 20 accident in outlying parts of coastal Mississippi and Alabama. In the week of May 17, Coast Guard officials found tar balls...
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...StateCorporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Elizabeth A. Bradshaw Western Michigan University, brads2ea@cmich.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Bradshaw, Elizabeth A., "Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State-Corporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill" (2012). Dissertations. Paper 53. This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact maira.bundza@wmich.edu. DEEPWATER, DEEP TIES, DEEP TROUBLE: A STATE-CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME ANALYSIS OF THE 2010 GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL by Elizabeth A. Bradshaw A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Advisor: Ronald C. Kramer, Ph.D. Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2012 THE GRADUATE COLLEGE WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN June 29, 2012 Date WE HEREBY APPROVE THE DISSERTATION SUBMITTED BY Elizabeth A. Bradshaw ENTITLED Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State-Corporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor...
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...MicroBiology- MLT1 LabPaq / Published by: Hands-On Labs, Inc. sales@labpaq.com / www.LabPaq.com / Toll Free 866.206.0773 A Laboratory Manual of Small-Scale Experiments for the Independent Study of Microbiology 50-0222-MB-01 LabPaq® is a registered trademark of Hands-On Labs, Inc. (HOL). The LabPaq referenced in this manual is produced by Hands-On Labs, Inc. which holds and reserves all copyrights on the intellectual properties associated with the LabPaq’s unique design, assembly, and learning experiences. The laboratory manual included with a LabPaq is intended for the sole use by that LabPaq’s original purchaser and may not be reused without a LabPaq or by others without the specific written consent of HOL. No portion of any LabPaq manual’s materials may be reproduced, transmitted or distributed to others in any manner, nor may be downloaded to any public or privately shared systems or servers without the express written consent of HOL. No changes may be made in any LabPaq materials without the express written consent of HOL. HOL has invested years of research and development into these materials, reserves all rights related to them, and retains the right to impose substantial penalties for any misuse. Published by: Hands-On Labs, Inc. 3880 S. Windermere St. Englewood, CO 80110 Phone: Denver Area: 303-679-6252 Toll-free, Long-distance: 866-206-0773 www.LabPaq.com E-mail: info@LabPaq.com Printed...
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...Bacteria |I | |INTRODUCTION | Bacteria, one-celled organisms visible only through a microscope. Bacteria live all around us and within us. The air is filled with bacteria, and they have even entered outer space in spacecraft. Bacteria live in the deepest parts of the ocean and deep within Earth. They are in the soil, in our food, and on plants and animals. Even our bodies are home to many different kinds of bacteria. Our lives are closely intertwined with theirs, and the health of our planet depends very much on their activities. Bacterial cells are so small that scientists measure them in units called micrometers (µm). One micrometer equals a millionth of a meter (0.0000001 m or about 0.000039 in), and an average bacterium is about one micrometer long. Hundreds of thousands of bacteria would fit on a rounded dot made by a pencil. Bacteria lack a true nucleus, a feature that distinguishes them from plant and animal cells. In plants and animals the saclike nucleus carries genetic material in the form of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Bacteria also have DNA but it floats within the cell, usually in a loop or coil. A tough but resilient protective shell surrounds the bacterial cell. Biologists classify all life forms as either prokaryotes or eukaryotes. Prokaryotes are simple, single-celled organisms like bacteria. They lack a defined nucleus of the sort found in plant and animal cells. More complex organisms, including all plants and animals, whose cells have a...
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...A Review of Literature Related to Oil Spill Dispersants 1997-2008 for Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (PWSRCAC) Anchorage, Alaska by Merv Fingas Spill Science Edmonton, Alberta PWSRCAC Contract Number - 955.08.03 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this PWSRCAC-commissioned report are not necessarily those of PWSRCAC September, 2008 ii Abstract This report is a review of the literature on oil spill dispersants published from 1997 to August, 2008. The report identifies and focusses on recent advances in dispersant effectiveness, toxicity, and biodegradation. Other topics such as application, use, behaviour and fate are also covered. The prime motivation for using dispersants is to reduce the impact of oil on shorelines, thus the application must be successful and effectiveness high. As some oil would come ashore, discussion remains on what effectiveness is required to significantly reduce the shoreline impact. A major issue is the actual effectiveness during spills so that these values can be used in estimates for the future. The second motivation for using dispersants is to reduce the impact on birds and mammals on the water surface. The benefits of using dispersants to reduce impacts on wildlife still remain unknown. The third motivation for using dispersants is to promote the biodegradation of oil in the water column. The effect of dispersants on biodegradation is still a matter of dispute. Some papers state that dispersants inhibit...
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