The recent Deepwater Horizon oil disaster is a historical example of an oil spill clean up that is continuing in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spills are destructive to environment and the surrounding wildlife, particularly aquatic animals that are coated with oil layers causing many problems. They are unable to fly and sometimes drown due to the heavy coat of oil. Moreover, if animals consume oil-inflected organisms, they are likely to suffer from food poisoning resulting in inadvertent damage to the complete food chain. To avoid the after effects of oil spill, one needs to suck oil from the surface of water as fast as possible because if it gets spread due to the wind shift it is most difficult to rectify the error. If oil spreads, it becomes an oil slick, which then requires advanced, difficult and time-consuming techniques to overcome. Initially, when oil is in its concentrated form the clean up method used is burning the oil in place called in-situ burning. However, this requires the oil layer to have minimum thickness of 0.12 inches (3 mm) on the surface of water in order to burn independently rather than spread into an oil slick. Alternatively, a containment boom is used as a barrier to contain oil spill and increase its thickness. Booms also prevent oil from reaching the shores, averting widespread damage. As oil concentrates into a thicker surface layer, other methods like burning, skimmers, vacuums can be used to recover the oil. Permutations and combinations are used with booms to restore oil such as fireproof booms plus in-situ burning or booms and skimmers – a machine that separates oil floating on water with the help of special boats. A final method surviving if skimmers and boom do not work, is application of chemical dispersants on the oil slick that break down the stray oil avoiding minimum damage to wildlife and beaches. Cleaning up an oil spill involves an investment of millions of dollars. In addition, companies held responsible for the oil spill also have to pay heavy fines, compensation and penalties for all legitimate claims and the damage caused. A few of the largest oil spills in the history of the petroleum industry are the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24 1989 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 2010. These oil spills have killed hundreds of animals and caused irreversible damage to the environment. Companies planning oil investment at various drilling fields should take appropriate care to avoid oil spills. Proper investment in oil well safety measures ensure that oil companies do not deal carelessly with the health and safety of the surrounding environment, people and wildlife. Kyles Humphrey is an experienced columnist in oil related fields, who frequently writes articles related to oil prices & indexes and crude oil including tips on investment in oil. Please visit oil.com for more details.
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