Case Study on Oil

Spills

BY ANURADHA RAMROOP
ABSTRACT

Oil spills are a common occurrence in society today, not only does it affect humans, but has
huge negative effects on marine life, and other species that depend on the ocean for a source of
food, home and much more. There should always be rules and regulations, which persons should
follow to prevent oil spills and the government, must enforce harsh rules onto oil rig companies.

Oil Spill On Venezuelan Coasts

  There have been 53 oil spills in Venezuela this year through September, most of them
concentrated on the Caribbean coast where massive government oil refineries operate
with little environmental oversight.

 The Venezuelan government rarely publishes records of oil spills or other environmental
conflicts, making it difficult to track oil spills and coordinate appropriate responses.

 The oil spills are doing incalculable damage to local ecosystems, which include
mangroves and the estuary known as Lake Maracaibo.

It’s not unusual to see some rivers running black in Venezuela, or for fishermen to return home
scraping dark sludge off their boots.

Crumbling infrastructure and a lack of government oversight in the petroleum-rich country have
made oil spills an endemic problem along the coast, according to a report published this month
by the Venezuelan Observatory for Political Ecology.

It warns of incalculable damage to mangroves on the Caribbean coast and unique estuary
ecosystems in Lake Maracaibo.

“They keep happening,” said Elsa Rodríguez, a member of the observatory. “Every year they’re
more frequent. It doesn’t just hurt the wildlife but also the local fishermen.”

Because the Venezuelan government rarely publishes records of oil spills or other environmental
conflicts, conservation groups have to rely on citizen reporting and satellite data to piece
together trends. For the observatory’s report, it relied on social media posts from local
community members suffering from oil spills, as well as satellite imagery from biologist Eduardo
Klein of Simón Bolívar University in Caracas.

The information, even if missing numerous data points, shows that the country continues to
experience dozens of oil spills annually, often in areas with high levels of biodiversity. This year,
it has averaged nearly six oil spills per month, with a total of 53 through September.

An overwhelming majority of the spills have been located in the coastal states of Zulia, which
had nine spills, and Falcón, which had 33. Both states are home to some of Venezuela’s largest
oil refinery complexes, controlled by state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA).

Venezuela is one of the most oil-rich countries in the world, sitting on more than 303 billion
barrels of proven crude oil reserves and more than 3.5 billion barrels of proven natural gas
reserves, according to OPEC. In 2020, oil accounted for about 99% of the country’s export
earnings.

One of this year’s worst spills occurred in June, when a tank at a facility in Punta Cardon,
Falcón, on the Paraguayan Peninsula near Aruba, began to leak through a crack in its base.
Local media reported that the tank couldn’t be repaired until it had completely emptied its 3.6
million litres of gasoline nine days later.

The facility is reportedly supposed to receive a maintenance check every two years, but had not
been attended to since around 2016. It’s a common story for oil spills in Venezuela.

“There should be more responsibility shown by the state,” Rodríguez said. “The oil spills are its
direct responsibility. But there is very little action in response to these events. In very few cases
do they adequately respond.”

A lack of government transparency makes it difficult to quantify the environmental impact on

local ecosystems, which include mangroves and unique fish and crustacean life supported by
Lake Maracaibo’s brackish water. A number of species in the area appear to be on the decline,
including the northern screamer (Chauna chavaria) and the Zulia toad-headed turtle
(Mesoclemmys zuliae).

The report said government officials often prevent scientists and other experts from entering
areas with oil spills and almost never publish their own cleanup methods, or whether there was
a cleanup at all. The country’s economic and political crisis has driven away much of the
scientific community that might have taken this work into its own hands.

“The problem in Venezuela is that there is a total lack of official information about these
events,” said Klein, who put together the satellite images, “whether they’re accidents, whether
it’s a continual discharge into the ocean. We have to use tools that are more indirect.”

Satellite images are a key part of oil spill monitoring in any country, Klein said, but without
additional resources it has proven nearly impossible to statistically measure the impact they’re
having in the long term, especially since much of the hydrocarbons from the spills are settling at
the bottom of the ocean where readings aren’t easily taken.
SITUATION

As of now, companies, animal shelters, veterinary specialists, as well as local citizens are
collaborating to resolve this situation and preserve marine life, as well as the environment. The
city is also working with water quality experts to take regular samples of the water along our
coast and inlets to determine the level of contaminants that are associated with the oil spill. As
this effort gets underway, detailed information will be made available on this site enforce the
law with severity. Educate the citizens, politicians and leaders to lead companies and
institutions concerning the need to protect the environment, our industries and our resources
today.
OUTCOME

Oil is an ancient fossil fuel that we use to heat our homes, generate electricity, and power large
sectors of our economy. But when oil accidentally spills into the ocean, it can cause big
problems. Oil spills can harm sea creatures, ruin a day at the beach, and make seafood unsafe to
eat. It takes sound science to clean up the oil, measure the impacts of pollution, and help the
ocean recover.

What is oil?

Crude oil, the liquid remains of ancient plants and animals, is a fossil fuel that is used to make a
wide range of fuels and products. Oil is found below or below the ocean floor in reservoirs,
where oil droplets reside in “pores” or holes in the rock. After drilling down and pumping out
the crude oil, oil companies transport it by pipes, ships, trucks, or trains to processing plants
called refineries. There it is refined so it can be made into different petroleum products,
including gasoline and other fuels as well as products like asphalt ground, plastics, soaps, and
paints.

AFFECT ON MARINE LIFE & ANIMALS

Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water
repellency of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to the harsh elements. Without the
ability to repel water and insulate from the cold water, birds and mammals will die from
hypothermia.

Juvenile sea turtles can also become trapped in oil and mistake it for food. Dolphins and whales
can inhale oil, which can affect lungs, immune function and reproduction. Many birds and
animals also ingest oil when they try to clean themselves, which can poison them.

Fish, shellfish, and corals may not be exposed immediately, but can come into contact with oil if
it is mixed into the water column — shellfish can also be exposed in the intertidal zone. When
exposed to oil, adult fish may experience reduced growth, enlarged livers, changes in heart and
respiration rates, fin erosion, and reproduction impairment. Fish eggs and larvae can be
especially sensitive to lethal and sublethal impacts. Even when lethal impacts are not observed,
oil can make fish and shellfish unsafe for humans to eat. Marine life that lives, hunts, or travels
in the area covered with oil can be affected. Different types of marine life are impacted
differently, depending on their physiology and habits. The compounds left behind after the
volatile compounds play a large part in why oil spills affect marine life, since many of them are
toxic, dense, and bio accumulative. One of the most direct ways in which marine life is affected
by oil spills is by essentially suffocating plants and animals. Marine plants can be covered in a
film of oil which prevents oxygen and water exchange, causing the plants to die. Marine life
which feeds on this vegetation will in turn struggle to survive. Coatings of oil on the flesh of
birds and mammals can literally kill them through suffocation. Oil spills also affect marine life
such as birds by stripping the water resistant coating from their feathers. A bird weighed down
by oil may have difficulty flying, and will develop hypothermia as a result of exposure to
extremely cold water. Mammals also suffer, as oil can remove water resistant compounds from
the coats of furred marine life like otters and seals. Oil spills affect marine life like filter feeders
by concentrating in the flesh of these animals. Clams, mussels, and oysters may quickly
accumulate toxins, which can kill the animals or be passed on along the food chain. Human
consumers often complain that shellfish harvested from an area impact by an oil spill taste
heavy and oily. Animals that rely on these filter feeders for food may become sick and die as a
result of consuming them. Oil spills usually affect marine life at multiple levels of the food chain,
and require a lot of work to fix the problem. The inhalation and ingestion of compounds related
to oil spills can also harm marine life, both in the long and short term. In the long term, oil spills
interfere with the ability of marine life to breed, reproduce, grow, or perform other vital
functions. Toxins in oil can also cause cancers and other illnesses in the long term. If left
untreated, the area around an oil spill can be denuded of life. Fortunately, there are ways to
clean up oil spills. In addition to chemicals, ecologists also use bacteria which thrive on the
compounds in oil to digest it and render it less harmful.
AFFECTS ON HUMANS

Studies of biomarkers have uncovered irreparable harm to humans exposed to oil and gas from
spills. These effects can be grouped into respiratory damage, liver damage, decreased immunity,
increased cancer risk, reproductive damage and higher levels of some toxics (hydrocarbons and
heavy metals). men who had worked cleaning up the spill had twice as much mercury in their
urine as did men who had not been involved in the effort to restore the lagoon in which the oil
had stagnated. Mercury damages the brain and the liver. Each time a pipeline ruptures or a
waste pit overflows, we could expect that the people in the vicinity are flooded with mercury,
through their water, the fish they eat, and the air they breathe. Direct exposure to oil spills –
occurs close to where people live or work and where they may come in contact with oil spill
components:

 By breathing contaminated air - since oil and products (petroleum products) have
many volatile compounds which are emitted as gases from spilled oil, the air becomes
contaminated with those volatile oil products or vapors producing specific odors. Even
when odors are not felt, a health risk may exist for some individual compounds if
residents are exposed (breath the air) for a long time. Of course, when the smell is
obvious the health risk increases. Once in the air, contamination may travel over long
distances. Of course, that vapors will also become more diluted with the distance
traveled. So, the original contamination levels at the source along with specific weather
conditions may dictate the final spreading of oil contaminated air vapors.

 By direct contact with the skin - people may come in direct contact with oil and/or oil
products while walking in a contaminated area (e.g., beach). An initial irritation will be
obvious. Additionally, contaminants may be absorbed through the skin and enter the
body

Indirect exposure to oil spills - even when people live in places far from where the actual oil
spill took place:

 By bathing in contaminated water - for example swimming in a contaminated water

stream - even when an oil sheen may not be visible, dissolved oil contaminants may exist
in the water if it was impacted by an oil spill

 By eating contaminated food - some oil compounds bioaccumulate in living organisms

and may become more concentrated along the food chain. Humans may become exposed
to concentrations of contaminants in the food that could be orders of magnitude higher
than in the contaminated environment. This is especially problematic since residents
 could be exposed even if they live far away from an oil spill if they consume food coming
from a spill affected area

The main oil spill effects include a variety of diseases, negative economic impact, pollution with
crude oil or petroleum products (distillates such as: gasoline, diesel products, jet fuels,
kerosene, fuel oil, as well as heavy distillates like hydraulic and lubricating oils) and the
aesthetic issues that affect the residents of the affected areas in multiple ways.

The negative economic impact is a major effect of oil spill pollution. It can affect the community
where the oil spill occurred in a number of ways, among which the following are the most
important:

 Long-term ceasing of activities such as fishing in the polluted waters that affects
fishermen and fisheries if a very large amount of oil is spilled; for example, the BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico had already impacted many local fishermen's and fisheries'
normal activity, and this looks like a long-term effect due to the very large amount of
spilled oil. Effects on local fishermen are detailed below.

 Property value reduction depends on the magnitude of the oil spill and affects all the
properties in a certain area exposed to oil spill pollution; this negative effect on property
value applies not only to those properties directly affected by the oil spill, but to all the
properties in a certain area exposed to oil spill pollution or at risk of becoming polluted
at some point in time

 The reduction of tourism in the affected areas;

 The disturbance of land and sea traffic, which affects import-export activities;

The aesthetic and recreational impact is related to the visible effects of oil spill pollution (oil
slick, sheens) appearing on coast waters, shoreline, and beaches, wetlands, etc. When more
serious, the complete closure of such recreational areas may occur, at least temporary, until the
spill is removed and the cleanup process ends.

Effects on Local Fishermen, Seamen and Ship Workers

Health problems due to the exposure to spilled oil or its volatile compounds may appear. Oil-
spill pollution diseases are obviously not restricted to fishermen, affecting the population
(residents) living in the affected area alike.

Large oil spills, which usually occur in the oceans, affect commercial fishermen, seamen living
in the affected areas and ship workers on the ships near the oil spill location. Fishermen are
directly affected by large marine oil spills that contaminate the fish species swimming in the oil-
polluted water, along with ecosystem livelihoods. Seamen can be affected if they bathe
in contaminated water – for example swimming in a contaminated water stream. Even when an
oil sheen may not be visible, dissolved oil contaminants may exist in the water. Last but not
least, ship workers can inhale the fine particulate matter resulted from oil spills.

Fishermen and local ship workers can lose their jobs for extended periods of time due to
government bans and restrictions on fishing. Until the oil spill is stopped and the clean-up of all
oil pollution is completed, thousands of square miles may be closed. Being hard to predict and
quantify in terms of dollar loss, this aspect is maybe the most subtle and dangerous one.

Fishing restrictions can generate economic drops in the living area, affecting fishermen and
residents from the area alike. Even if a fisherman is willing to start a new job and a new life,
there may be limited options for him. This is due to the general economic downturn as a result of
oil spill pollution.

Commercial fishermen who own their own boats may lose them by:

 the lack of financial means to finish any boat payments they may have

 being unable to put their boats to a "good use" for a long period of time.

Since all fishermen are fond of water and the daily activities related to fishing, psychological
effects may appear in affected fishermen. It is quite common that this type of profession is
transmitted from father to son and stays in a family for generations. When such family tradition
is suddenly broken due to fishing restrictions as a result of large oil spills, the affected fishermen
may never recover psychologically. They may go on with their lives, they may find other jobs,
they may survive, but they may never be the same! This could develop serious social problems in
the affected areas. Unfortunately, there are no remedies for those fishermen with family
traditions except getting back to commercial fishing again. This, however, can take a while.

It should be noted that that the fishing restrictions in the areas affected by oil spill pollution are
necessary since the consumption of contaminated fish could have serious health effects,
especially due to the bioaccumulation of some chemicals in the fish. Such chemicals come from
the compounds of oil (such as PAHs - polyaromatic hydrocarbons).

Short-term health symptoms after exposure to an oil spill include:

 Memory loss

 Dizziness and irritability

 Headache

 Nausea and vomiting

 Chest pain
  Coughing and lung problems

 Fatigue

 Skin injuries

 Rashes

 Blisters

 Eye sores

 Confusion

The study found these workers had ongoing symptoms including:

 Low platelet counts in the blood

 Low haemoglobin levels

 Breathing problems like chronic rhinosinusitis and issues with the airway

 Liver problems

 Lung problems

 Heart issues

Other long-term health effects of oil spill exposure can include:

 Increased cancer risk

 Reproductive problems

 Decreased immunity
HOW CAN WE PREVENT OIL SPILLS?

 Oil booms are the most common and popular equipment used in oil clean-up due to their
simpler design and easier execution. These are also known as containment booms that
enclose the oil to a smaller area and prevents it from spreading further.
  This method is employed when the area of the spill is comparatively smaller.

 It is used where the containment booms are locally available; if the boom is to be
transported from a faraway site, the spill can expand to a larger area and become
difficult to manage.

 It is used in the water where wave velocity is constant as the fluctuating tide makes it
difficult for an oil boom to perform the clean-up operation properly.

Skimmers:

 Once the oil is bounded by oil booms, it can be extracted or skimmed easily with the help
of skimmers or oil scoops. These skimmers are fitted onto boats to remove the floating oil
or greasy contaminants.

 It is an economical method of oil clean-up as the equipment used for skimming oil is
relatively cheaper.

 A major loophole in the use of skimmer in oil decantation is that if debris is present in
the confined region, it can choke or clog the skimmer easily.

Sorbents:

Materials that can adsorb or absorb liquids are termed as sorbents. The use of sorbents is a
natural process of oil clean-up. The most common types of sorbents are peat moss, vermiculite
(straw), and hay. Some other features of sorbents are listed as follows:

 These materials result in the least wastage and prevent the progression of pollution.

 They are useful for small spills with the highest efficiency.

 They are also used to remove small tints of large spill clean-ups.

 There is also a difficulty in working with sorbents as sorbents become denser than water
after absorbing oil and may possibly sink to the bottom of the sea.

Burning:

 It is similar to burning rice husk after yielding rice crop. In this method, the floating oil
is set to fire by igniting it safely. It is the most proficient method of oil clean-up, as it can
efficiently remove 98% of the total spilled oil.

Dispersants:

 When oil cannot be confined to booms, the last option that remains is oil disintegration.
Dispersals are chemicals spread over the spilled oil to initiate the disintegration of oil.
 After disintegration, the surface area of oil molecules increases, and it becomes easier
for them to form a bond with water. This process takes the bonded molecules deeper in
water and makes them available for microbes, which degrade them later on.

Some other methods employed for safer oil spill clean-ups from the sea are hot water washing or
washing with high-pressure water; manual labour; and bioremediation and natural recovery.

CONCLUSION

Oil spills, contribute, to great amount of water pollution, because oft his many species have
reached to the point of extinction. Not only does it affect marine life and other species that rely
on the ocean, but it affects humans negatively as well. In addition, there should be harsh rules,
on captains and sailors, as well as rig companies. Also, oil companies should recompensate, by
sending out troops to help save animals and remove oil from the water, as well as donating
money to animal rehabilitation centers, who volunteer to attend to animals affected by the oil
spill.