Oil Spills

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An oil spill is the unintentional release of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment as a result of human activity. The term often refers to Marine (ocean) oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil can refer to many different materials, including crude oil, refined petroleum products (such as gasoline or diesel fuel) or by-products, ships' bunkers, oily refuse or oil mixed in waste. Spills take months or even years to clean up.

Oil is also released into the environment from natural geologic seeps on the sea floor . Most man-made oil pollution comes from land-based activity, but public attention and subsequent regulation has tended to focus most sharply on seagoing oil tankers . Environmental effects Studies of the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown that the external damage caused by oil spills can be greater than was previously thought. One time, a tanker spilled off shore from Aberdeen, Washington, and released 100,000 gallons of oil into the doomed harbor. It is now thought that the impacts to marine life can be less than one part per billion petroleum hydrocarbons.The lighter fractions of oil, such as benzene and toluene, are more toxic, but are more volatile and evaporate quickly. Heavier components of crude oil, such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) appear to cause the most damage; while they are less toxic, they persist in the environment much longer than volatile components. A heavy oil spill across the shore blankets rock-pools etc, preventing gas exchange and eliminating light as well as directly leaching toxins into the water; it can also become mixed deeply into pebble, shingle or sandy beaches, where it may remain for months or even years. Well-weathered heavy oil on inter-tidal rocks doesn't retain serious toxicity - for example, it will be grazed off by limpets without apparent ill-effect.Seabirds are severely affected by spills as the oil penetrates and opens up the structure of their plumage, reducing the insulating ability of their feathers and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. The limited foraging ability coupled with the ingestion of the oil quickly causes dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Most birds affected by an oil spill will die without human intervention.

The effects of oil spills on marine mammals such as sea otters and seals reduce their coat's natural insulation, leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia. Ingestion of the oil has the same effects on marine mammals as it does on birds.

Largest oil spills

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"|+ Oil Spills of over 100,000 tonnes or 30 million US gallons, ordered by Tonnes! Spill / Tanker || Location || Date || *Tonnes of crude oil || Reference|-|Gulf War oil spill|[January 23 1991| [Gulf of Mexico [1979- March 23 1980 / [Aegean Captain| [July 19 1979| [Uzbekistan [1992| [Persian Gulf| off [Angola| [Saldanha Bay, South Africa [1983| [Brittany, France [1978| [Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy| off [Nova Scotia, Canada| [Gulf of Oman [1972| [Scilly Isles, UK [1967| [Navarino Bay, Greece| [A Coruña, Spain [1976| 100,000| |}One tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons, or 7.33 barrels.

Estimating the volume of a spill By observing the thickness of the film and its appearance on the surface of the water, it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled. If the surface area of the spill is known, the total volume of the oil can be calculated from this information.Metcalf & Eddy. Wastewater Engineering, Treatment and Reuse. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 98.

{| class="wikitable" width=50%|-!! colspan=2 | Film Thickness! colspan=2 | Quantity Spread|-! Appearance! in! mm! gal/sq mi! L/ha|-| Barely visible|align=center | 0.0000015|align=center | 0.0000381|align=center | 25|align=center | 0.365|-| Silvery sheen|align=center | 0.0000030|align=center | 0.0000762|align=center | 50|align=center | 0.731|-| First trace of color|align=center | 0.0000060|align=center | 0.0001524|align=center | 100|align=center | 1.461|-| Bright bands of color|align=center | 0.0000120|align=center | 0.0003048|align=center | 200|align=center | 2.922|-| Colors begin to dull|align=center | 0.0000400|align=center | 0.0010160|align=center | 666|align=center | 9.731|-| Colors are much darker|align=center | 0.0000800|align=center | 0.0020320|align=center | 1332|align=center | 19.463|}

Methods of cleaning an oil spill A sheen can not be cleaned up. A sheen can be dispersed (but not cleaned up) with detergents which makes oil settle to the bottom and makes the seabed toxic. It is very difficult to clean up oils denser than water as they settle to the bottom; Polychlorinated biphenyl are an example of such a pollutant.

Some of the equipment used in cleaning up include:

Absorbent Boom, Sausage
Containment Boom (except for gasoline where confinement can cause dangerous levels of fume buildup)
Skimmer (machine)
Snares

Some of the methods used include:

Bioremediation: use of [biological agents to remove oil
Burning: It can be done only when it is not windy, the oil has not dispersed and there is a calm sea.
Dispersants: Dispersants act as detergents, clustering around oil globules and allowing it to be carried away in the water. While this makes the surface look pretty, it only spreads the oil around. This can be a benefit since smaller oil droplets, scattered with currents, may cause less harm and may be easier to degrade. However, the dispersed oil droplets readily sink and can lethally contaminate coral. Moreover, recent research indicates that dispersants themselves are toxic to corals.Barry, Carolyn (2007). Slick Death: Oil-spill treatment kills coral, Science News vol. 172, p. 67.
Do nothing: Sometimes it is better to do nothing and let the oil evaporate or break down on its own than to make matters worse by attempting to clean up. Cleanup by detergents pollutes the seabed. Shoreline cleanup can further disturb the ecology by bleaching all life from the area.
Dredging: for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
Skimmer (machine):It can't be done if there is a rough sea
Solidifying

Notes References

The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004
Oil Spill Case Histories 1967-1991, NOAA/Hazardous Materials and Response Division, Seattle WA, 1992
Nelson-Smith, Oil Pollution and Marine Ecology, Elek Scientific, London, 1972; Plenum, New York, 1973