Yearly Project Science 2022-

2023
Oil Spills: A Big Problem
By Ayesha Jannah Haris 9C
Presented to : Paromita Biswas

INDEX
1. What are Oil Spills?
2. Environmental Effects of Oil Spills
- Water Contamination
- Health of the ecosystem
- Coastlines
3. Impact on Marine Life
4. Past and Recent Oil Spill Cases
5. Can we clean up our spills?
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

1. What are Oil Spills?

Oil is transported from a location of production to a trading

location mainly through ships. But these ships may have accidental
leakage of oil during the journey, which causes an oil spill. These
oil spills have adverse effects on the environment.

Oil Spills can happen due to many reasons, including – accidental

leakage from tankers or pipes, due to cyclones, illegal dumping of
waste, attacks of ships carrying the oil, collision of ships or just
because of people’s carelessness.

Oil Spills also

harm marine
life like sea
turtles, marine
mammals, etc.,
as well as
seabirds.

Cleaning up
spill is not an
easy task either
2. Environmental Effects of Oil Spills
Oil Spills cause many issues in the marine environment. They
include:-

i. Water Contamination
- Oil Spills spread quickly across the ocean/sea surface
and contaminate the region it is in. 1 liter of oil can
contaminate up to 1 million liters of water
- Oil Spills contaminate the fresh consumable water
sources that the ocean/seas are linked to, as the oil can
seep into rivers, lakes, etc.
 - 30-40% of the oil that is spread across the surface
naturally evaporates due to the heat (depending on the
density of the oil) but that still leaves out the majority
percentage of the oil on the surface.
- The rest of the oil reacts with specific radiations of
sunlight, to perform photolysis (oil oxides into toxic
elements). These toxic products can contaminate the
water body and destroy the biome.

ii. Health of the ecosystem

- As we know, water and oil have different densities
which makes them immiscible. Therefore, the oil from
the spills forms a thick layer on the water surface.

- > Marine Animals:

Due to this reason, the marine animals (fishes, seals, otters,
mammals, turtles, sharks, etc.) that live under the surface
of
the

water do not receive the amount of sunlight or oxygen

(from the surface for mammals) that they need for survival.
If not, this can cause death
- > Aquatic Plants:
Plants like kelp, hydra, sargassum, coral, etc., absorb
sunlight to produce food (through photosynthesis) but the
oil

blocks it from doing so.

The oil disrupts the growth of plants. Oil helps in the quick
formation and growth of algae in the water.
This increase and excess algae make adverse conditions for
the growth of other aquatic plants.

- > Seabirds:
Due to the same reason, seabirds like gulls, ducks,
pelicans, etc. get
their feathers
stuck in the oil.

The feathers, then,

“mat and
separate” which
weakens their
 water-proofing property and exposing the bird’s sensitive
skin.

These birds also try to get the oil off their feathers
independently causing them to ingest the oil. This can lead
to organ damage. Also, most oil-covered seabirds lose their
buoyancy (their ability to float on water) causing them to
sink or drown to death.

iii. Coastlines
- Oil (in large spill cases) can even reach a big part of the
coastlines. It caused many animals to get displaced and
thrown onto the coastline.
- Further, millions of coastal people rely on seafood and
oil spills have affected them deeply.
3. Impact on Marine Life

As mentioned previously, the oil forms a thick layer above the

surface of the water. This severely affects the life of many in the
marine ecosystem
including fishes,
dolphins, otters,
sharks, turtles, etc.
They don’t get the
necessary nutrients
to survive
underwater like
usual due to oil.

The marine fishes,

just like humans,
require a certain amount of Vitamin D (obtained mainly from
sunlight) but because of the slick of oil, they don’t receive the
needed amount. In addition, the oil could reduce the fish’s ability to
swim and look around for food. Furthermore, if the fish ingests the
oil, it can cause organ damage.

Oil can also coat the feathers of birds, preventing them from
flying and eating. In addition, oil can contaminate the food of both
seabirds and the fish, which can lead to malnutrition and starvation.

These spills can cause severe damage the animals’ habitats.

They can contaminate reefs, seagrass beds, and other places
animals consider home too. As a result, animals could get
displaced, and it could lead to a decrease in biodiversity.

Marine mammals (including dolphins, whales, porpoises, sea

otters, seals, orcas, etc.)
all have mainly one thing
in common - they NEED
to come to the surface of
the water to breathe.

As an oil spill spreads, it

forms a thick covering
over the surface of the
water. This can result 2
things which end up with
the same problem:
1. The thick oil layer makes it incredibly hard for the
mammals to go through to breathe. This could cause the
mammals to suffocate under the water leading them to
death
 2. The oil can clog their blowholes and skin, preventing
them from breathing and maintaining their body
temperature. This could, again, cause suffocation or
irritation or inflammation of the skin and eyes.

Therefore, it is crucial that we find ways to save these lives.

4. Past and Recent Oil Spill Cases

Oil spills are an environmental disaster. They cause severe damage

to ecosystems, wildlife, the economy, and even human health.

Over the years some of the worst oil spills have had disastrous
consequences.

Ixtoc-1 Oil Spill (1979):

- On June 3, 1979, the Ixtoc-1 oil well had a blowout when
being operated
Pemex, the national
oil company of
Mexico.
- The spill lasted for
over 9 months and
released approx.
140 million
gallons of crude oil
into the Gulf of
Mexico.
 - The oil spill is one of the largest accidental oil spill in history
and caused severe economic losses due to the disruption of
fishing and tourism activities.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989):

- On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit the coast
in Prince William Sound, Alaska, releasing an estimated 11
million
gallons
of crude
oil into
the
water.
- The
spill also
caused
damage
to the
fishing
and tourism industries.
- This was one of the worst oil spills in US history and led to
the death of thousands of marine animals, including otters and
dolphins.

Gulf War Oil Spill (1991):

- During the Gulf War
in 1991, Iraqi forces
opened the valves of
several oil tanks in
 Kuwait, releasing approx. 200 million gallons of oil into the
Persian Gulf.
- This is one of the largest oil spills in world history and caused
widespread environmental damage.
- The oil slick spread across the gulf and killed thousands of
marine animals, damaged coral reefs, and contaminated
drinking water in the region.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010):

- On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon
oil rig caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the worst marine oil
spill in US history and led to the closure of several beaches
and the displacement
of thousands of
people.
- This spill released an
estimated 4.9 million
barrels of oil and
caused damage to
marine life, with
devastating effects on
the local fishing
industry.

These four oil spills

demonstrate the destructive & devastating environmental impacts it
can have. They remind us of the need for effective ways to prevent
such situations from occurring in the future.
 5. Can we clean up our spills?

Oil spills cause a lot of problems and we have reviewed most of them
now. Therefore, it is necessary that we find a way to clean up the oil
spills so that they don’t spread and cause further damage. After much
research, we can conclude with 5 steps in cleaning up these oil spills:

1. Containment: Containing the oil is the 1st step in the process of

cleaning up an oil spill. The goal is to prevent the oil from spreading
and causing further damage. This can be done by using physical
barriers such as booms, absorbent materials, and skimmers or by “in
situ burning” to keep the oil contained.

2. Collection: Once the oil has

been contained, it can be
collected and removed from the
environment. This can be done
with skimmers and vacuum
systems.

3. Treatment: After the oil has

been collected, it must be
treated to remove the toxins.
This can be done with chemical
dispersants, separation, and bioremediation.

4. Disposal: The oil must be disposed of in a safe manner. This can

be done through incineration, landfilling, or deep well injection.
5. Restoration: The last step in the process is to restore the
environment to its original state. This includes replanting vegetation,
restoring habitats, and cleaning up any debris.

As stated in the last step of the progress, it is important that we at least

try to restore the environment to how it originally was. To help rebuild
the environment, scientists have found a few ways to clean up oil
spills without adding anything to make it worse. These are some ways
that we can do that:

- Chemical herding is the first non-toxic, environment-friendly

way to clean up oil spills. Researchers made a chemical herder
made of phytol, a molecule in chlorophyll that makes algae
green. It's being tested in the Chukchi Sea, off the coast of
northern Alaska. Shell had an accident the first time they tried to
drill in the area in 2012. So, using multiple cleanup methods
would be a boon.
- Bioremediation refers to the act of adding materials to the
environment, such as fertilizers or microorganisms, that will
increase the rate at which natural biodegradation occurs. Two
bioremediation methods have been used in the US for oil spill
cleanups—biostimulation and bioaugmentation.
 Biostimulation is the addition of nutrients to a
contaminated environment to help the growth of
microorganisms which helps increase the rate of
biodegradation.
 Bioaugmentation is the addition of microorganisms into a
surface to help biodegrade the contaminant (here, oil)
- Sorbents are specialized absorbent materials (biodegradable)
that act like sponges to pick up oil but not water
 - In situ burning is used on recently spilled oil. It is set on fire
usually when it is floating on the water surface or on oiled
marshy areas.
- Vacuums (industrial size) are used to suck the oil from the
shoreline on directly from the water surface.

In the end, even though there are some methods to tackle the situation
now, we should look for more ways to effectively get the oil out of the
water bodies so we can save our environment.

6. Conclusion

To summarize, Oil Spills are disastrous. They happen due to

accidental reasons but cause huge issues in almost all aspects. They
have adverse effects on ecosystems, wildlife, humans, economy, and
the environment.

The marine life and the seabirds get severely affected because of the
oil spills. The oil slick prevents the marine flora and fauna from
getting the necessary nutrients for their survival. It is important that
we look into saving or rescuing these creatures from the oil spills if
we want to sustain the species.
To control the oil spills the first thing is to prevent the occurrence of
them by re-checking the structure of ships and the safety in the oil
drilling or digging regions so that no disaster takes place. If it does
occur, then we can follow the 5-step process to clean it up.

Taking everything into account, it is crucial that we prevent oil spills

from happening often and that we find more efficient ways to clean
them up if it does.

7. Bibliography

NOAA. “How does NOAA help clean up oil and chemical

spills?” National Ocean Service website,
[24th March 2022]
- https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/spills-cleanup.html .

Unknown Author. “How Do Oil Spills Affect the

Environment?”. Earth Reminder website. [30th June 2022]
- https://www.earthreminder.com/how-do-oil-spills-affect-
the-environment/

Edmond, Charlotte. “ This is how oil spills damage our

environment”. World Economic Forum website. [12th October
2021]
 - https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/oil-spill-
environment-ocean/.

NOAA. “Oil spills: A major marine ecosystem threat”

National Ocean Service website,
[25th July 2016]
- https://www.noaa.gov/explainers/oil-spills-major-marine-
ecosystem-threat.
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response. “Understanding
Oil Spills and Oil Spill Response” United States
Environmental Protection Agency website,
[Dec 1999]
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-01/
documents/ospguide99.pdf.

Hansman, Heather. “Scientists Find a Natural Way to Clean

Up Oil Spills, With a Plant-Based Molecule
” Smithsonian Magazine website,
[29th July 2015]
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientists-
find-natural-way-to-clean-up-oil-spills-with-plant-based-
molecule-180955815/.

IBR. “Oil can be lethally harmful to waterbirds – particularly

to diving birds that spend a great deal of time on the surface of
the water where the oil sits.” International Bird Rescue
website,
- https://www.birdrescue.org/our-work/research-and-
innovation/how-oil-affects-birds/.