As the country's attention is turned toward the Gulf of Mexico on the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon spill,
it is also important to recognize that the 2010 BP spill was not the
only one that happened in the past two years, even in the U.S.
States including Alaska, Utah, Michigan and Montana all saw oil
spills in the past two years, along with countries like Canada, New
Zealand and China. While several leaks were relatively small and pale in
comparison to the Deepwater Horizon spill, they still represent what
can go wrong with oil extraction and shipment.
Despite the apparent damage to the Gulf region and subsequent spills in the U.S., the government's oil spill commission set up after the 2010 Gulf spill, and disbanded a year ago, announced recently that many of its recommendations have yet to be implemented, especially by Congress.
In Nigeria's Akwa Ibom State, an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured on May 1 and spilled over a million gallons of oil, reported the Guardian. The leak continued for seven days before it was stopped.
HuffPost blogger Omoyele Sowore explained in July 2010 that an oil spill from ExxonMobil operations was nothing new to the country. He wrote that an "environmental catastrophe [had] been going on since December 2009." He described the toll on Nigeria: "There's oil on the surface of the ocean, wildlife coated in crude, fishermen losing their businesses."
In May 2010, several thousand barrels of oil spilled from the
Trans-Alaska pipeline "during a scheduled pipeline shutdown at a pump
station near Fort Greely," explained AP.
No injuries were reported and officials said the spill was likely "limited to the gravel on top of the containment area's line."
In June 2010, a Chevron pipeline ruptured and spilled oil into a creek near Salt Lake City, Utah.
It was first estimated that over 400 to 500 barrels spilled into the creek, which leads into the Great Salt Lake, reported AP. Around 150 birds were "identified for rehabilitation." The oil did not reach the Great Salt Lake, however.
Chevron was later cited for the spill, which released an estimated 33,000 gallons in total.
In March 2012, a group of 66 residents of a Salt Lake City neighborhood sued Chevron for damage caused by the Red Butte Creek spill and a smaller spill in December 2011.
In late July 2010, an Enbridge pipeline in southwestern Michigan sprung a leak and spilled over 800,000 gallons of oil into a creek which flows into the Kalamazoo River.
By August, a regional EPA administrator said that significant progress had been made at the site, but "the agency cautioned that it will take months to complete the cleanup," reported AP.
By the end of September, the pipeline -- which travels from Ontario to Indiana -- was back in operation.
The EPA later reported that about 1.1 million gallons of oil were recovered, but pipeline operator Enbridge said that it would stick with previous estimates that only about 843,000 gallons were spilled.
In July 2010, China experienced what was reported as the "country's largest reported oil spill" after a pipeline rupture near the northeastern port city of Dailan.
Several days after the spill, cleanup efforts were underway over a 165 square mile (430 square kilometer) area of the Yellow Sea.
The Chinese government reported that about 1,500 tons or 461,790 gallons of oil had spilled, but experts contended that the spill could have been "dozens of times larger," reported AP.
In late April 2011, a pipeline in northwestern Alberta began leaking, and created the worst spill in the province in 36 years, reported the Calgary Herald.
About 28,000 barrels of oil were reportedly spilled from the Rainbow pipeline, which is operated by Plains Midstream Canada.
The Globe and Mail revealed that the pipeline operators "detected a potential problem nearly eight hours before halting the flow of crude." A nearby school in a First Nation community was closed after residents reported "nausea, burning eyes and other symptoms," and several animals were found dead.
In late July, Plains Midstream requested to re-open the pipeline and begin to ship oil to Edmonton again.
In June 2011, an oil spill occurred about 25 miles off the coast of China's Shandong province in Bohai Bay. A second spill followed in July.
In late August, it was reported that ConocoPhillips had discovered more oil seeps in Bohai Bay, although only "1 to 2 liters (a quarter to a half-gallon) of oil and drilling mud were being released each day."
The company reported that the 2011 spills released 700 barrels of oil and 2,500 barrels of drilling mud into the bay and that most of it was recovered. In September, China's State Oceanic Administration claimed that oil was still seeping underwater.
In early 2012, Texas-based ConocoPhillips reached a settlement deal with the Chinese government for $160 million.
In July 2011, a pipeline beneath Montana's Yellowstone River ruptured and sent an oil plume 25 miles downstream, reported AP.
Despite reassurances from ExxonMobil that the pipeline was safe, the July spill released what was originally estimated to be 42,000 gallons of oil. With other 1,000 workers assisting the cleanup, ExxonMobil estimated that it would cost $135 million to clean the river.
In January 2012, it was reported that ExxonMobil had increased its estimate of the spill size by 500 barrels. AP later reported the estimated spill size as 63,000 barrels.
In August 2011, an oil rig off the eastern coast of Scotland began leaking
oil into the North Sea. Royal Dutch Shell, which operates the Gannet
Alpha oil rig, initially reported that 54,600 gallons of oil were
spilled.
A second leak soon occurred, turning the spill into the worst in the North Sea in a decade, reported AP.
Several days later, Shell announced that it had "closed a valve from which oil was spilling into the North Sea," according to AP. The spill released about 1,300 barrels of oil, which spread out over a 2.5 square mile (6.7 square kilometer) area.
In mid-November 2011, Brazilian authorities began investigating an offshore spill near Rio de Janeiro, reported AP.
With oil washing up on shore, a government minister deemed it the country's largest maritime environmental disaster a week later.
Although over 2,000 sea birds were killed by the spill that spilled about 400 tons of fuel oil, 343 little blue penguins were rescued and cleaned of oil. [Watch video of the penguins' release into the wild here.]
In January, half of the stricken Rena began sinking into the sea after breaking apart and spilling over 100 cargo containers.
HuffPost blogger Omoyele Sowore explained in July 2010 that an oil spill from ExxonMobil operations was nothing new to the country. He wrote that an "environmental catastrophe [had] been going on since December 2009." He described the toll on Nigeria: "There's oil on the surface of the ocean, wildlife coated in crude, fishermen losing their businesses."
No injuries were reported and officials said the spill was likely "limited to the gravel on top of the containment area's line."
It was first estimated that over 400 to 500 barrels spilled into the creek, which leads into the Great Salt Lake, reported AP. Around 150 birds were "identified for rehabilitation." The oil did not reach the Great Salt Lake, however.
Chevron was later cited for the spill, which released an estimated 33,000 gallons in total.
In March 2012, a group of 66 residents of a Salt Lake City neighborhood sued Chevron for damage caused by the Red Butte Creek spill and a smaller spill in December 2011.
By August, a regional EPA administrator said that significant progress had been made at the site, but "the agency cautioned that it will take months to complete the cleanup," reported AP.
By the end of September, the pipeline -- which travels from Ontario to Indiana -- was back in operation.
The EPA later reported that about 1.1 million gallons of oil were recovered, but pipeline operator Enbridge said that it would stick with previous estimates that only about 843,000 gallons were spilled.
Several days after the spill, cleanup efforts were underway over a 165 square mile (430 square kilometer) area of the Yellow Sea.
The Chinese government reported that about 1,500 tons or 461,790 gallons of oil had spilled, but experts contended that the spill could have been "dozens of times larger," reported AP.
About 28,000 barrels of oil were reportedly spilled from the Rainbow pipeline, which is operated by Plains Midstream Canada.
The Globe and Mail revealed that the pipeline operators "detected a potential problem nearly eight hours before halting the flow of crude." A nearby school in a First Nation community was closed after residents reported "nausea, burning eyes and other symptoms," and several animals were found dead.
In late July, Plains Midstream requested to re-open the pipeline and begin to ship oil to Edmonton again.
In late August, it was reported that ConocoPhillips had discovered more oil seeps in Bohai Bay, although only "1 to 2 liters (a quarter to a half-gallon) of oil and drilling mud were being released each day."
The company reported that the 2011 spills released 700 barrels of oil and 2,500 barrels of drilling mud into the bay and that most of it was recovered. In September, China's State Oceanic Administration claimed that oil was still seeping underwater.
In early 2012, Texas-based ConocoPhillips reached a settlement deal with the Chinese government for $160 million.
Despite reassurances from ExxonMobil that the pipeline was safe, the July spill released what was originally estimated to be 42,000 gallons of oil. With other 1,000 workers assisting the cleanup, ExxonMobil estimated that it would cost $135 million to clean the river.
In January 2012, it was reported that ExxonMobil had increased its estimate of the spill size by 500 barrels. AP later reported the estimated spill size as 63,000 barrels.
A second leak soon occurred, turning the spill into the worst in the North Sea in a decade, reported AP.
Several days later, Shell announced that it had "closed a valve from which oil was spilling into the North Sea," according to AP. The spill released about 1,300 barrels of oil, which spread out over a 2.5 square mile (6.7 square kilometer) area.
With oil washing up on shore, a government minister deemed it the country's largest maritime environmental disaster a week later.
Although over 2,000 sea birds were killed by the spill that spilled about 400 tons of fuel oil, 343 little blue penguins were rescued and cleaned of oil. [Watch video of the penguins' release into the wild here.]
In January, half of the stricken Rena began sinking into the sea after breaking apart and spilling over 100 cargo containers.
After two days, the spill had affected 115 miles (185 kilometers) of Nigerian coastline.
Several days after the December 20 spill, Shell reported that the leak -- which occurred about 75 miles offshore -- had been contained before it reached the Nigerian coast.
The spill, which covered 350 square miles of ocean at its peak, was reported as having released less than "40,000 barrels -- or 1.68 million gallons" of oil.
HuffingtonPost Green
No comments:
Post a Comment