Gulf Oil Spill 1991 Disaster - Case Study Example

GULF OIL SPILL 1991 DISASTER Name Institution Instructor Date Introduction This article focuses on the 1991 Gulf Oil Spill disaster in terms of the causes as well as how best the disaster and the effects would be avoided. The 1991 Gulf War resulted in one of the largest oil spills the world has ever seen. Much of the coastline was smothered with tar and oil, thus killing most of the animal and plant communities. The total area that was covered by the oil spill was about 770 km from Southern Kuwait coastline to Abu Ali Island. A lot was done between 1991 and 1995 in order to assess the regeneration processes and the overall ecological damage caused. Several research institutes and environmental bodies initiated research in collaboration with international scientists. However, what posed a great challenge was repairing of the ecological damage caused. The Gulf Oil Spill Disaster Analysis Cause and Reaction to Cause The problem of Gulf oil spill is unusual and can be attached to governmental oversight of the oil industry (Gordon, 2011). The causes of oils spills are many but for the case of Gulf War Oil Spill Disaster, the nature of the cause was human. In some oil spill cases, the cause has been hurricane, rough seas, and some unexpected well blowouts. No matter the reason, the effects are far reaching, beyond losing significant amount of oil. During the Gulf War of 1991, the Iraqi forces deliberately opened the valves located at the Sea Island terminal. This let to dumping of several tankers of oil into Persian Gulf. This was done as a strategic wartime action towards the U.S. forces. Iraqi was accused of environmental terrorism for spilling millions of oil barrels. Some sources also reported that there was some incendiary strike aimed at burning the oil before it reaches the water purification plants and main industries facilities. Later, the Iraqi officials initiated their blame against the U.S. for its bombings. The blames were highly denied. To make matters worse, the disaster remained inaccessible because it was surround by a warzone. According to news reports, the oversight of the government on the actual cleanup was burdened and confused by regulatory excesses (Gordon, 2011). Besides, there was poor coordination and some funds would not be accessed. The bureaucratic friction that existed at the moment might have exasperated the disaster minimization efforts. According to the environmentalists, there were little or no preventive measures that were taken whereas the Saudi Officials maintained that they had done everything possible to keep everything under control. Later, some conferences were held to discuss the clean-up efforts. The main challenge posed was that the labor required for the cleanup was insufficient since most of the efforts were on reconstructions after the war. To make the situation worse, Oil Fires blazed, and there was lack of a clear chain of command towards fighting the fires. The firefighters started from the southern region of the wells with the plan to move towards the larger and unwieldy fires at southwest. 175 out of 500 wells were controlled. Wartime situation made the cleanup response a nightmare for some time and when it picked up, it was limited to protecting the desalination plants and the industrial sites. The oil amounts were huge and amazed everyone who saw the situation. The region was just emerging from war and therefore, there were no concentrated efforts to get rid of oil that was floating on some of the gulf surfaces. The wildlife rescue center was, however, busy in their marine life rescue operations, but still needed more support. It is like nobody was prepared for such large oil spills. Even the overflights to map the extent of the oil spills were limited by war hostilities. It was, however, believed that over 20 -120 million gallons of the oil was in the gulf, with much of it afloat while some of it had already sunk to the bottom after emulsification. Further, workers get exposed to oil in different ways. In August 2010, the number of workers who had responded to Gulf Oil Spill was about 52,000 and the extent to which they had been exposed to contaminants depended on both nature and duration of exposure. (Goldstein, Howard & Lichtveld, 2011) What Would be Done to Prevent the Disaster or Reduce its Effects Besides environmental protection, environmental laws have a secondary role of reassuring people that the required industrial activities can go on in a manner that is both safe and exhibits a lot of responsibility (Griggs, 2010). The big question remains as to whether oils spills can be prevented. Research points at different causes that are totally not similar. However, what can be done is to reduce the nature of the spread and oil spill related disasters such as fire and devastating environmental pollutions. Lawmakers are useful at this point and should help in formulating useful policies. For example, world leading agencies should preach peace around oil fields in order to safeguard this natural resource. Locals, wildlife and environmental agencies should fight towards preventing any future occurrences. Although the basic techniques that are used for containing the offshore spills have not changed much for the last three decades, spills can now be tracked by use of satellite. Some of the chemical dispersants that are used for breaking up the oil to smaller particles are now less poisonous, but would still be having some chemical effect to the environment. In general, the techniques are the same but have been improved. Examples of the improvements that have been put in place include fixing blowout preventers and valves whose purpose is to seal off wells from any uncontrollable gas or oil flow. Some countries have adopted the use of last-resort backup systems that make use of an acoustic switch that can prevent over spilling in case the blowout valves fail. The effects of the Gulf War Oil spill were far reaching. For instance, the oil spill destroyed some ecosystems, killed wildlife, and affected the human health in many ways. Oil is a substance that is semi-volatile, and can evaporate, thus creating some heavy vapor that is capable of staying near the ground. This necessitates protection of the local communities around the affected region. The hydrocarbons in the oil are toxic and can irritate the skin (Ithaca College, 2011). For example, direct exposure leads to dermatitis, rashes, burning sensations, erythema, dermal hypersensitivity, among other secondary skin diseases. There are also some long-term effects that are related to leukemia and even lung cancer (7). Some chemical compounds target the central nervous system and the respiratory system. Conclusion From the discussion herein, it is clear than not only are gallons of oil lost during spills but there is also a lot of threat caused to the environment. In order to minimize such effects in terms of size, number, and spill impacts on environmental degradation, leading institutions should continue performing trainings, inspections, enforcements and site spill response exercises aimed at mitigating the impacts. There should also be some trained emergency response personnel to assist in the event of any major spill. With improved technologies, monitoring and shutdown of plants should be automated, such that, whenever a detrimental oil spill occurs, the valves shut down automatically. Enough security should be accorded to all sensitive chemical substances in order to prevent fire disasters in the event of accident or human caused leakages. The Gulf War was an event that no ordinarily person would relate to the absurd oil spill. Warlords should be held responsible for careless acts during war. They should also be trained on environmental concerns so that they too have a say when it comes to protecting the environment that provides the ground for their wars and healthy living. The environment is for all of us and therefore, safeguarding it should be a general concern. References Goldstein, B.D., Howard, J.O., & Lichtveld, M.Y. (2011, April 11). The New England Journal of Medicine Review Article. Current Concepts: The Gulf Oil Spill. 1338. Retrieved from http://www.gulfcoastdisaster.com/etc/deepwater/files/docs/NEJMra1007197.pdf Gordon, R.L. (2011, October 6). The Gulf Oil Spill: Lessons for Public Policy. 4 Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa684.pdf Griggs, J.W. (2010, April 20). BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Vol. 32:57, 74. Retrieved from http://felj.org/sites/default/files/docs/elj321/14_57_bp_gulf_of_mexico.pdf Ithaca College (2011). The Gulf Oil Spill: A Year in Review, 6. Retrieved from http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/envstudies/docs/studentpubs/gulfoilspillmag.pdf . Read More