Bp Oil Spill Research Paper

BP OIL SPILL

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster or the Macondo blowout)[5][6][7][8] is a massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is the largest offshore spill in U.S. history.[9] Some estimates placed it by late May or early June, 2010, as among the largest oil spills in history with hundreds of millions of gallons spilled to date. The spill stems from a sea floor oil gusher that resulted from the 20 April 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others.[10]
The gusher is estimated by the quasi-official Flow Rate Technical Group to be flowing at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of crude
| |

|Deepwater Horizon oil spill |
|[pic] |
|The oil slick as seen from space by NASA's Terra satellite on 24 May 2010. |
|Location |Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi River Delta |
|Coordinates |[pic]28°44′12″N 88°21′58″W / 28.736628°N 88.365997°W / |
| |28.736628; -88.365997Coordinates: [pic]28°44′12″N |
| |88°21′58″W / 28.736628°N 88.365997°W / 28.736628; |
| |-88.365997 |
|Date |since 20 April 2010 (86 days) |
|Cause |
|Cause |Wellhead blowout |
|Casualties |13 dead (11 killed on Deepwater Horizon, 2 additional oil |
| |related deaths)[1][2] |
| |17 injured
By 25 April, the oil spill covered 580 square miles (1,500 km2) and was only 31 miles (50 km) from the ecologically sensitive Chandeleur Islands.[72] An 30 April estimate placed the total spread of the oil at 3,850 square miles (10,000 km2).[73] The spill quickly approached the Delta National Wildlife Refuge and Breton National Wildlife Refuge.[74][75][76] On 14 May, the Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills model indicated that about 35 percent of a hypothetical 114,000 barrels (4,800,000 US gal; 18,100 m3) spill of light Louisiana crude oil released in conditions similar to those found in the Gulf would evaporate, that between 50 and 60 percent of the oil would remain in or on the water, and the rest would be dispersed in the ocean. In the same report, Ed Overton says he thinks most of the oil is floating within 1 foot (30 cm) of the surface.[77] The New York Times is tracking the size of the spill over time using data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Coast Guard and Skytruth.[78] The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was reported as possibly getting caught in the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current on 19 May.[79] Oil began washing up on the beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore on 1 June.[80] By 4 June, the oil spill had landed on 125 miles (201 km) of Louisiana's coast, had washed up along Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands, and was found for the