Oil Spill Facts

Oil Spill Facts – A Fresh Perspective

 

Oil spill facts oil barrels Today I present a Guest Post on Oil Spill Facts by Lyle R. Johnson 

I have been on several spills as an Officer in the Coast Guard.

Oil Spills are, of course, an ecological disaster.  In fact, I think we should refer to them as Oil Disasters instead of “Spills”.   It sounds as if we are condoning it … oops, I spilled my coffee, oops, I spilled my oil.

I will high-spot three major areas that I believe will add to your knowledge of Oil Spills.  That is, most people just see an Oil Disaster as “messy” and harmful to wildlife.  Thus, while true, those observations do not provide knowledge of what a “spill” is.

Oil Spill Facts – 1.  Which Oil?

Consider what was spilled.   Oil, yeah, right, oil was spilled.  The type is important as not all Oil Disasters are created equal.   Succinctly, although there are many terminologies, I shall use the 1 to 6 categories.  Number 1 type is extremely low viscosity oil – light machine oil – whereas number 6, or “Bunker C”, is tar-like.  The term “Louisiana Light” is used for the recent Drilling Platform leak in the Gulf of Mexico.   Now this leak is certainly not benefitting the environment yet the damage is minimal.   Oil of this type can evaporate 40% or more – based on ambient weather conditions – within the first 24 hours of the spill.   The harm to wildlife is minimal.

Contrast the “Louisiana Light” spill with a Bunker C (No. 6) spill – the type in and around the Exxon Valdez.   Bunker C is so viscous that a person can walk on it … and not leave footprints.   The specific gravity of Bunker C may exceed that of water; it just sinks.   The Bunker C that floats – most of it – is the problem.  The evaporation rate of Bunker C is 5% to 10% within the first 24 hours so most of it hangs around for quite awhile.  Tidal and wave actions tend to break it up into tar balls so it can cause widespread damage to the environment (flora and fauna).

Hence, although no Oil Disaster is “good”, there is a wide variation on amount of damage based on the type of oil spilled.  A Bunker C spill is the worst.

Oil Spill Facts:  2.  Who Does What, When?

The next major area is response time and action.   This should be the easy area to address.   Specifically, as soon as a spill or leak is detected the concurrent actions of 1) contain the spread of the oil while 2) securing the source of the spill or leak.   There are many methods for the next action – removal – and range from Skimmers (vacuuming) to deploying oil-eating bacteria.   Finally, there is the clean-up of coastal areas and wildlife.   It is important to understand that all tasks of this area are performed by private firms – worldwide – and these firms are prepared to mobilize and be on scene within 24 hours (usually less) of notification.

Response time and action is the most frustrating area (author’s opinion).   The problems are ego and dollars and/or dollars and ego.   That is, which Agency is in charge and from whose Budget will the cost of clean-up be deducted.     Ultimately the owner of the oil, which may or may not be the same as the owner of the vessel, is responsible for the cost of clean-up.   The issue is that the entity contracting the clean-up firm must advance the payment.    So while the great budget debate rages, the oil is flowing into the environment.  (Clean-up work on the Valdez spill started 3 days after the grounding.)   For example, when federal budgets are being reviewed, it may serve the EPA to get the PR on a spill and will attempt to usurp the D.O.T. (Coast Guard – now part of Homeland Security).   This is somewhat of reminiscent of the stories of Nero and Rome.

These are 2 of the 3 aspects of oil spill facts.

NextWhat is the Real Cause of oil spills?  (By the way, it’s probably not what you think!).


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  • Excellent Information! Thank you for this easy to understand post!
    Looking forward to tomorrow!
    Help I’m a Caregiver

  • Living on the FL Gulf Coast, this hits home. Luckily for us, the tar balls in our area weren’t too bad.

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  • Clare,
    Have you heard about the super algae to produce biofuel?
    Is it a far away project to face reality or something of this decade?
    OCtavio
    Boligrafos Corporrativos Perú

    • I think it will happen in the next decade. I can absolutely see the benefits, but I’m also concerned that we’re tinkering with nature, probably with unforeseen consequences. The concept is getting a lot of attention (and funding) so it will probably go ahead. Thanks for your question Octavio!

  • Clare and Lyle,
    thank you for the heart breaking information. The oil spill is really a disaster on a very large scale. The consequences are devastation and last for many years. It is unbelievable that the bureaucracy and money can be in the way of taking immediate action.

  • I thought all oil spills were a complete disaster to the environment. Thank you for the clarification.

  • I had not thought much about how response time affects the overall damage of a spill but this makes sense. Thanks for the informative post.
    Sonya Lenzo

  • Oil leaking onto or into anything can casue some harm to whatever the leak is going into.
    Scott Sylvan Bell
    Body language of speeches
    Now go implement!

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