Ethical Issues Surrounding the Bp Oil Spill
Ethical Issues surrounding the BP Oil Spill
By: Angela Higgins
December 16, 2010
The BP Oil Spill which happened on April 20, 2010, was the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history releasing approximately 185 million gallons of crude oil into the gulf. This event was the result of a wellhead on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform blowing out in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 40 miles southeast offs the Louisiana coastline. Eleven men working on the oil rig platform were killed and 17 others were injured. People livelihood and the environment were devastated by this event.
Ethical dilemma, issues, and facts This incident captivated the world and had tremendous media presence and government involvement, but as questions arose, ethical issues started to emerge. This paper will take a look at the ethical issues surrounding the oil spill specifically pertaining to the environment and potential honesty issues. First was the sheer magnitude of the damage the spill which will have an impact to the wildlife in the Gulf and the ecosystem for years to come and who actually was responsible for the cleanup. BP began to blame others and would not take full responsible for the event. However, BP did acknowledge the oil soaked wildlife, natural habitats that would be destroyed by the oil, thus impacting many different type of species. BP did talk about the miles long underwater plumes of oil, but would not discuss if the large plumes of oil had the potential to poison and suffocate life across the food chain, which was what many people did believe was happening. The chemical dispersants that were used on the oil were also unique to the Deepwater Horizon and its effects on the animals were unknown, but they were used anyway. The problem with using dispersants on the oil is that this type of treatment was considered experimental and they did not know for sure how the chemical would affect the animal, many believe that the chemical dispersants are toxic
By: Angela Higgins
December 16, 2010
The BP Oil Spill which happened on April 20, 2010, was the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history releasing approximately 185 million gallons of crude oil into the gulf. This event was the result of a wellhead on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform blowing out in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 40 miles southeast offs the Louisiana coastline. Eleven men working on the oil rig platform were killed and 17 others were injured. People livelihood and the environment were devastated by this event.
Ethical dilemma, issues, and facts This incident captivated the world and had tremendous media presence and government involvement, but as questions arose, ethical issues started to emerge. This paper will take a look at the ethical issues surrounding the oil spill specifically pertaining to the environment and potential honesty issues. First was the sheer magnitude of the damage the spill which will have an impact to the wildlife in the Gulf and the ecosystem for years to come and who actually was responsible for the cleanup. BP began to blame others and would not take full responsible for the event. However, BP did acknowledge the oil soaked wildlife, natural habitats that would be destroyed by the oil, thus impacting many different type of species. BP did talk about the miles long underwater plumes of oil, but would not discuss if the large plumes of oil had the potential to poison and suffocate life across the food chain, which was what many people did believe was happening. The chemical dispersants that were used on the oil were also unique to the Deepwater Horizon and its effects on the animals were unknown, but they were used anyway. The problem with using dispersants on the oil is that this type of treatment was considered experimental and they did not know for sure how the chemical would affect the animal, many believe that the chemical dispersants are toxic
References: 1. Wikipedia Foundation, INC. December 14, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill 2. The Times-Picayune. December 15, 2010 http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil- spill/index.ssf/2010/12/federal_government_sues_bp_oth.html 3. BP Global. December 15, 2010 http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=40&contentId=7061813