Friday, May 7, 2010

Oil Spill Interesting Facts

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig, worth over $560 million, sinks to 5,000 feet below the surface and a five mile oil slick emerges.

17 people wounded, 11 dead. This is the deadliest oil rig disaster since 1968.

Nearly 2.5 million gallons of oil have spilled into the ocean since the explosion on the oil rig.

After initial attempts to stop the oil leak failed, new attempts will include drilling to 18,000 feet below the surface of the ocean and injecting cement and various chemicals to stop the leak. The plan is to use over 100 tons of cement.

Every day, the threat to the coastline of places like Louisiana increases and for now, wildlife in the affected areas is in serious danger. The only hope is that the containment methods for the oil spill work out.

2 comments:

  1. Dylan, what do you think will be the biggest long term effects of the spill? Everyone is talking about the wildlife, but what about the families who lost loved ones. It will affect them for generations.

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  2. I think in the future of the oil industry there will be more precautions taken to prevent another disaster like this one. I also think that there will be more back up plans in the event that such a disaster did happen again. This spill is very likely going to be the worst oil spill in the history of the planet so it's really opening people's eyes. As for the families who lost love ones in the accident, I'm sure the loss of life will have a devastating effect on the families. However, it was lucky that more people didn't die during the explosions. There were around 130 people on the rig when it suffered a massive explosion that left the rig in flames until it sank and a majority of those people got a way safe. Nonetheless, it is definitely a tragedy that anyone at all had to lose their life.

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