deepwater horizon oil spill bioremediation

[2] It was drilling a deep exploratory well, 18,360ft (5,600m) below sea level, in approximately 5,100ft (1,600m) of water. [59] The reported 3.19 million barrels of spilled oil was not the only effect of this disaster. [217][218], In 2012, tar balls continued to wash up along the Gulf coast[219][220][221][222] and in 2013, tar balls could still be found in on the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, along with oil sheens in marshes and signs of severe erosion of coastal islands, brought about by the death of trees and marsh grass from exposure to the oil. [2] BP conducted its internal investigation. [58] As of December2012[update], 339mi (546km) of coastline remain subject to evaluation and/or cleanup operations. NIOSH did note that many of the personnel involved were not donning personal protective equipment (gloves and impermeable coveralls) as they had been instructed to and emphasized that this was important protection against transdermal absorption of chemicals from the oil. This entailed pumping cement through a channelknown as a relief wellthat paralleled and eventually intersected the original well. Improving Your Non-Technical Skills as a Scientist. BP said the report was inconclusive as to any causation associated with the spill. On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. [165][168] The delivery method of microbes to oil patches was proposed by the Russian Research and Development Institute of Ecology and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). It fouled the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and launched a six-year long environmental and legal battle. One of the largest oil spills, known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred in the Spring of 2010 near the coast of Louisiana (USA) due to an explosion during oil drilling activities. The draft plan allocated up to $8.8 billion for restoration from a proposed settlement with BP. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill | Gulf of Mexico | April 2010 What Happened? Due to the effectiveness and lower cost of bioremediation, two methods. Conferences on this theme occurred at least in 2016 and 2017. Phylogenetic It was largely settled when a Federal District judge approved the largest environmental damage settlement in United States history $20.8 billion on April 4, 2016. API announced the creation of an offshore safety institute, separate from API's lobbying operation. [45] According to a group presenting the plaintiffs, the deal has no specific cap. [336] BP originally expected to spend $7.8billion. The Deepwater Horizon accident has brought oil contamination of deep-sea environments to worldwide attention. Dead bodies of marine birds, fish, and various other affected animals can be seen floating all over the area. A study based on samples taken at several beaches in the Gulf of Mexico before and after the BP oil spill showed a drastic change in the microbial community at the locations [5]. oil rig explosion", "BP confirms that Transocean Ltd issued the following statement today", "Offshore Field Development Projects: Macondo", "Search Ends for Missing Oil Rig Workers", "The 11 Workers Who Died During The Deepwater Horizon Explosion", "Rescued oil rig explosion workers arrive to meet families at Kenner hotel", "Coast Guard: Oil rig that exploded has sunk", "US military joins Gulf of Mexico oil spill effort", "White House Struggles as Criticism on Leak Mounts", "Scientists up estimate of leaking Gulf oil", "BP Seeks Gulf Oil Spill Size Ruling From Judge", "New Estimate Puts Gulf Oil Leak at 205 Million Gallons", "New BP Oil Spill Emails Suggest Cover-Up", "The Cover Up: E-mails Show BP Lied to Authorities on The Deepwater Horizon Spill", "Impacts, Perception, and Policy Implications of the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil and Gas Disaster", "Response To Oil on Gulf Island Beaches Continues", "BP has another setback as oil slick threatens Florida", "Admiral back on the Gulf Coast for spill", "Oil in Lake Pontchartrain stokes worries in New Orleans", "New wave of oil comes ashore west of Mississippi River", "Massive stretches of weathered oil spotted in Gulf of Mexico", "BP Oil Still Ashore One Year After End of Gulf Spill", Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Recent Activities and Ongoing Developments, "Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: A review", "Simulations of underwater plumes of dissolved oil in the Gulf of Mexico", "Nearly 3/4 of BP spill oil gone from Gulf", "Scientists call new gulf spill report 'ludicrous' Oneindia News", "Foul waters, hard lessons from BP oil spill", "Spilled BP oil lingers on Louisiana coast", "Dirty blizzard buried Deepwater Horizon oil", "40,000-Pound Tar Mat Reminds Us the Oil Spill is Not Over", "BP Pulls Out of Gulf Cleanup, Leaving Unanswered Questions Behind", "Robot subs trying to stop Gulf oil leak", "US oil spill 'threatens way of life', governor warns", "Engineers work to place siphon tube at oil spill site", "Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response May 24", "Gulf awaits word on latest bid to plug oil leak", "Oil stains beaches and tourists as slick spreads", "Hayward says spill 'never should have happened', "Robots begin work to remove cap from gushing well", "Relief wells and Subsea containment illustration", "Relief wells aim at pipe 18,000 feet deep", "BP's Deepwater Oil Spill Tests End and the Kill Begins, Well Reaches Static Condition", "BP begins pumping cement in next stage of 'static kill', "BP: Blowout preventer that failed to stop Gulf of Mexico oil leak removed from well", "Failed blowout preventer, a key piece of evidence in Gulf oil spill probe, secure on boat", "BP: Cement being pumped in to permanently seal the company's blown-out well in Gulf of Mexico", "Oil could spew until August, officials say", "No end in sight for oil in the Gulf of Mexico", "Oil in new Gulf slick matches that of 2010 spill", "Probe Deepens on New Oil Linked to BP Site", "Scientists: Oil fouling Gulf matches Deepwater Horizon well (photo gallery, video) | al.com", "Coast Guard, BP investigating reports of oil at Deepwater Horizon site", "Coast Guard says oil sheen 16 miles northeast of BP well too dispersed to be recovered", "Sheen at Deepwater Horizon disaster site is BP oil, Coast Guard says", "Coast Guard Says Sheen Near Macondo Matches 2010 BP Spill", "BP finishes latest search for Gulf oil leaks", "Oil may be seeping from Deepwater Horizon site", "Source of new oil sheen near Deepwater Horizon site has been plugged, BP says", "BP Macondo well, Deepwater Horizon wreckage videos released by Coast Guard", "Unknown substance leaking from Deepwater Horizon site", "Mystery 'oil sheen' grows near site of BP Gulf disaster, says researcher", "BP oil spill: US scientist retracts assurances over success of cleanup | Environment", "A Lot of Oil on the Loose, Not So Much to Be Found", "Tar Balls from BP Oil Spill Wash Up on Gulf Beaches", "Florida Keys environmentalists act to protect against BP oil spill summer 2010 | Global Nonviolent Action Database", Containment boom effort comes up short in BP oil spill, "BP oil spill Deepwater Horizon, BP (Business), Oil spills (Environment), Oil and gas companies (Business), Oil (environment), Oil (business), US news, Conservation (Environment), Pollution (Environment), World news, Environment, Business", BP spill response plans severely flawed | MNN Mother Nature Network, "Slosh and Berm: Building Sand Barriers off Louisiana's Coast to Hold Back Oil Spill Has Low Probability of Success", "Are the Sand Berms Really Stopping Oil? [176], Local and federal authorities citing BP's authority denied access to members of the press attempting to document the spill from the air, from boats, and on the ground, blocking access to areas that were open to the public. "[341], On 31 August 2012, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed papers in federal court in New Orleans blaming BP for the Gulf oil spill, describing the spill as an example of "gross negligence and willful misconduct." Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment reviews the current state of the science regarding oil spill response and environmental By that time cleanup had cost BP over $14billion. The funds will be used strictly for research activities, with results published in peer-reviewed scientific journals with no BP approval or review. If that proves to be the case, the sheen can be expected to eventually disappear. The conclusion was that BP was partly to blame, as was Transocean, which owned the rig. The microbial ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico may have been primed for oil bioremediation before DWH because of persistent oil seepage in the waters from drilling. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the . [329] An independent audit of the GCCF, announced by Attorney General Eric Holder, was approved by Senate on 21 October 2011. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Thus, oil that would normally rise to the surface of the water was emulsified into tiny droplets and remained suspended in the water and on the sea floor. [176] The Coast Guard and BP denied having a policy of restricting journalists; they noted that members of the media had been embedded with the authorities and allowed to cover response efforts since the beginning of the effort, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. [62] Estimates of the residual ranged from a 2010 NOAA report that claimed about half of the oil remained below the surface to independent estimates of up to 75%. [137][138] On 19 May, the EPA gave BP 24hours to choose less toxic alternatives to Corexit from the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule, and begin applying them within 72 hours of EPA approval or provide a detailed reasoning why no approved products met the standards. [232], By June 2010, 143spill-exposure cases had been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; 108 of those involved workers in the clean-up efforts, while 35 were reported by residents. [262] NOAA had closed 86,985sqmi (225,290km2), or approximately 36% of Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, for commercial fishing causing $2.5billion cost for the fishing industry. ", "Matter of Trust creates hair-and-nylon booms to help clean up BP oil spill in Gulf", "BP Provides Lessons Learned From Gulf Spill", "Oil dispersants used in Gulf of Mexico spill causing alarm", "Chemicals Meant To Break Up BP Oil Spill Present New Environmental Concerns", "Migratory Birds Carry Chemicals from BP Oil Spill to Minnesota Two Years After Disaster", "DISPERANTS: Chemicals BP used may cause cancer", "Dispersant 'may make Deepwater Horizon oil spill more toxic' | Environment", "Government defends BP's use of dispersants, but worries linger", "Degraded oil in Mississippi Sound tests positive for dispersants, says lawyer | al.com", "Riki Ott: An Open Letter to US EPA, Region 6", "Corexit: Deadly Dispersant in Oil Spill Cleanup", "In Gulf oil spill, how helpful or damaging are dispersants? [85][86][87] On 3 August 2010, first test oil and then drilling mud was pumped at a slow rate of approximately 2bbl (320L) per minute into the well-head. Under this settlement, BP will pay the Trustees up to $8.8 billion for restoration to address natural resource injuries. website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. [210], In the first birthing season for dolphins after the spill, dead baby dolphins washed up along Mississippi and Alabama shorelines at about 10times the normal number. The British Petroleum oil spill (BP oil spill), also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum production industry [11] . Benthic and highly productive habitats such as marshes and coastal wetlands in the affected areas were contaminated with crude oil and other petroleum by products; they are harmful to many of the organisms that thrive there [2]. [272], On 28 April 2010, the National Energy Board of Canada, which regulates offshore drilling in the Canadian Arctic and along the British Columbia Coast, issued a letter to oil companies asking them to explain their argument against safety rules which require same-season relief wells. A citizen 's guide to bioremediation (Fact Sheet). [citation needed], Prior to the oil spill, on March 31, 2010, Obama ended a ban on oil and gas drilling along the majority of the East Coast of the United States and along the coast of northern Alaska in an effort to win support for an energy and climate bill and to reduce foreign imports of oil and gas. An infamous example of this is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill . [185], The State of Louisiana was funded by BP to do regular testing of fish, shellfish, water, and sand. Both cores were likely too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen gas to accelerate curing. BP was also faced with growing private claim payments estimated at $14.8 billion in October 2016. The settlement includes: Up to an additional $700 million to respond to natural resource damages unknown at the time of the agreement, and for adaptive management. Another possibility is that it is formation oil escaping from the subsurface, using the Macondo well casing as flow conduit, possibly intersecting a naturally occurring fault, and then following that to escape at the surface some distance from the wellhead. What are some ways to prevent the wash off of fertilizer or is there a way to release the fertilizer that would optimize their use while maintaining maximum growth of microbes? [147] One plume was 22mi (35km) long, more than 1mi (1,600m) wide and 650ft (200m) deep. Fish are intoxicated by the petroleum products and are unable to cope with the stress. Once released by the fracture of the core, the natural gas traveled up the Deepwater rigs riser to the platform, where it ignited, killing 11 workers and injuring 17. [80] On 16 June, a second containment system connected directly to the blowout preventer began carrying oil and gas to service vessels, where it was consumed in a clean-burning system. [23][59] Oil sector analysts at London-based investment bank Canaccord Genuity noted that a settlement along the lines disclosed would only be a partial resolution of the many claims against BP. These numbers, coupled with the National Audubon Society scientists' observations of bird colonies and bird mortality well after the acute phase, have led scientists to conclude that more than one million birds ultimately succumbed to the lethal effects of the Gulf oil spill. [339] BP also agreed to spend $105million over five years to set up a Gulf Coast health outreach program and pay for medical examinations. [113] On the most demanding day, 47,849 people were assigned on the response works and over 6,000 Marine vessels, 82 helicopters, and 20 fixed-wing aircraft were involved. The loss of life and the subsequent pollution of the Gulf of Mexico were the result of poor risk management, lastminute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the drilling platform. [201] Prior to the spill, approximately 0.1% of Gulf fish had lesions or sores. [325], The GCCF was administrated by attorney Kenneth Feinberg. It smothered corals in oil and chemicals, and disrupted the reproductive cycles of commercial and recreational fish -- including large fish like bluefin tuna. . 1 of 60 Bioremediation on Deep Horizon Oil Spill Aug. 08, 2011 28 likes 7,460 views Technology Business kerin93 Follow Advertisement Recommended Bioremediation of Aquifers and Marine Oil Spills Asma Hossain 400 views 21 slides Details OF bioremediation and Oilzapper Technology Manish Dwivedi 3.1k views 61 slides Biodegradation of petroleum (1) Das, N. and Chandran, P. Microbial Degradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminants: An Overview. Biotechnol Res Int., 2011, DOI: 10.4061/2011/941810, (2) Bik, H., Halanych, K., Sharma, J. and Kelly Thomas, W. Dramatic Shifts in Benthic Microbial Eukaryote Communities following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. PLoS One, 2012, DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0038550, (3) Safina, C. The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Well Blowout: A Little Hindsight. PLoS Biol, 2011, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001049, (4) Kweon, O., Kim, S., Holland, R., Chen, H., Kim, D., Gao, Y., Yu, L., Baek, S., Baek, D., Ahn, H. and Cerniglia, C. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolic Network in Mycobacterium vanbaaleniiPYR-1. J Bacteriol, 2011, DOI: 10.1128/JB.00215-11, (5) Beazley, M., Martinez, R., Rajan, S., Powell, J., Piceno, Y., Tom, L., Anderson, G., Hazen, T., Nostrand, J., Zhou, J., Mortazavi, B. and Sobecky, P. Micrbial Community Analysis of a Coastal Salt March Affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. PLoS One, 2012, DOI: 101371/journal.pone.0041305, (6) Kostka, J., Prakash, O., Overhalt, W., Green, S., Freyer, G., Canion, A., Delgardio, J., Norton, N., Hazen, T. and Huettel, M. Hydrocarbon-degrading Bacteria and the Bacterial Community Response in Gulf of Mexico Beach Sands Impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2011, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.05402-11, (7) McGenity, T., Folwell, B., McKew, B. and Sanni, G. Marine crude-oil biodegradation: a central role for interspecies interaction. Aquat Biosyst, 2012, DOI: 10.1186/2046-9063-8-10, (8) Ziervogel, K., McKay, L., Rhodes, B., Osburn, C., Dickson-Brown, J., Arnosti, C. and Teske, A. On 20th April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig lost control of a well as a cement plug installed to temporarily abandon the well hole failed. Birds were particularly vulnerable to the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He apportioned 67% of the blame for the spill to BP, 30% to Transocean, and 3% to Halliburton. [72][73] Next, it placed a 125-tonne (280,000lb) containment dome over the largest leak and piped the oil to a storage vessel. The genes code for ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases, which are necessary to cleave the aromatic rings of PAH [4]. [120][121] Critics allege that the decision to pursue the project was political with little scientific input. Oil spill cleanup. Fish and Wildlife Service rescued animals to help with the spill cleanup, although there were many animals found dead. The risk for new deep-sea spills is not expected to decrease in the future, as political pressure mounts to access deep-water fossil reserves, and poorly tested technologies are used to access oil. [104] USGS director Marcia McNutt stated that the riser pipe could hold at most 1,000bbl (160m3) because it is open on both ends, making it unlikely to hold the amount of oil being observed. The spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, and resulted in a massive release of oil into the ocean. Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program. In addition to the private lawsuits and civil governmental actions, the federal government charged multiple companies and five individuals with federal crimes. A .gov Air concentrations of volatile organic compounds and PAHs never exceeded permissible exposure levels. "[281] Some observers suggested that the Obama administration was being overly aggressive in its criticisms, which some BP investors saw as an attempt to deflect criticism of his own handling of the crisis. "[351][352] The Supreme Court of the United States later refused to hear BP's appeal after victims and claimants, along with numerous Gulf coast area chambers of commerce, objected to the oil major's efforts to renege on the Settlement Agreement. Have a comment on this page? [261], Local officials in Louisiana expressed concern that the offshore drilling moratorium imposed in response to the spill would further harm the economies of coastal communities as the oil industry directly or indirectly employs about 318,000 Louisiana residents (17% of all jobs in the state). A large scale of bioremediation was deployed during the BP oil spill crisis due to its effectiveness and lower cost [8]. [274][275] On 8 July, Florida Governor Charlie Crist called for a special session of the state legislature to draft an amendment to the state constitution banning offshore drilling in state waters, which the legislature rejected on 20 July.[276][277]. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Deepwater Horizon Trustee Council, a joint federal, state and tribal body which oversaw the overall Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A were the principal variants. A final device was created to attach a chamber of larger diameter than the flowing pipe with a flange that bolted to the top of the blowout preventer and a manual valve set to close off the flow once attached. [331] The federal judge assigned to the case, Judge Barbier, refused to halt the settlement program, saying he had not seen evidence of widespread fraud, adding that he was "offended by what he saw as attempts to smear the lawyer administering the claims."[332]. On 15 July, the device was secured and time was taken closing the valves to ensure the attachment under increasing pressure until the valves were closed completing the temporary measures. What are some alternative methods to increase surface area of hydrophobic molecules on water surfaces? Dispersants, Bacteria and Illness in the Gulf, "West Siberian research institute to help clean up Deepwater Horizon spill", BP withholds oil spill facts and government lets it, White House and BP legal wrangling: more damage to collaborative work in disaster response, "Deepwater Horizon NOTAM Overview: Air Traffic Organization, System Operations, Security", "Is BP Stopping Journalists from Observing the Oil Slick? [59], It was estimated with plus-or-minus 10% uncertainty that 4.9Mbbl (780,000m3) of oil was released from the well; 4.1Mbbl (650,000m3) of oil went into the Gulf. In April 2012, the Justice Department filed the first criminal charge against Kurt Mix, a BP engineer, for obstructing justice by deleting messages showing that BP knew the flow rate was three times higher than initial claims by the company, and knew that "Top Kill" was unlikely to succeed, but claimed otherwise. "[110], In January 2013, BP said that they were continuing to investigate possible sources of the oil sheen. Microorganisms live in environments of delicate balance; adding such large amounts of hydrocarbons will disrupt this balance with severe consequences [5]. [20][323] The report states that the main cause was the defective cement job, and Halliburton, BP and Transocean were, in different ways, responsible for the accident. [60], Concerns were raised about the appearance of underwater, horizontally extended plumes of dissolved oil. "[331], In July 2013, BP made a motion in court to freeze payments on tens of thousands of claims, arguing inter alia that a staff attorney from the Deepwater Horizon Court-Supervised Settlement Program, the program responsible for evaluating compensation claims, had improperly profited from claims filed by a New Orleans law firm. The effects of a small spill can take 15 . The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect,[6][7][8][9] considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. [10] Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. Marisa Taylor and Renee Schoof for McClatchy Newspapers, 18 May 2010. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection . $159.5 million Civil Penalty Ruling Against Anadarko Petroleum Co. [316][317] The panel found that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean had attempted to work more cheaply and thus helped to trigger the explosion and ensuing leakage. But it left the region reeling from a disrupted coastal economy; a devastated ecosystem; the deaths of as many as 105,400 sea birds, 7,600 adult and 160,000 juvenile sea turtles; and up to a 51-percent decrease in dolphins in Louisianas Barataria Bay. These projects allowed restoration of the Gulf to begin immediately. BP originally estimated as part of a Federal Court supervised program offsite link, that those private claims would total about $7.8 billion. [165] However, biogeochemist Chris Reddy said natural microorganisms are a big reason why the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not far worse.