Oil+SpillLZ



=Oil Spill= Do you have any idea how many workers are needed to cleanup an oil spill? Two of Americas biggest environmental disasters and largest oil spills are the Exxon Valdez and The Gulf of Mexico, both oil spills killed a lot of animals and used a lot of helpers to clean up. The Exxon Valdez and the Gulf of Mexico oil spills had a great impact on environmental problems. They spilled a lot of oil that took several months to clean up.

The Exxon Valdez was one of the largest environmental disasters. This happened on March 24, 1989. The Exxon Valdez spilled approximatly 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. The tanker, Exxon Valdez, Alaska to Los Angeles, Ca. ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel was traveling outside the normal shipping lanes in an attempt to aviod ice. A lot of wildlife animals died due to all of the oil spilled in the beaches. "The images that the world saw on television and descriptions they heard on the radio that spring were of heavily oiled shorelines, dead and dying wildlife."

Another big environmental disaster was on April 20, 2010, when an explosion occurred on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 rig workers and injurying 17 others. On April 24th was when they found out that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. It spilled between 17 to 39 million gallons of oil. It was a lot more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill that happened a long time ago. This oil spill is the worst in American history. It was a serious threat to wildlife as well, affecting iver 400 different species along the coastal areas. "The national wildlife Fedreation reports that already more than 150 threated or endangered sea turtles are dead. And 316 sea birds have been found dead along the Gulf Coast as a result of the spreading oil."

When the Exxon Valdez oil spill happened it took more than 11,000 personnel, 1,400 vessels and 85 air crafts to help clean up the spill. Shore line clean up began on April, 1989 until September continued in 1990 and 1991. The largest oil spill clean up. However this spill will likely be eclipsed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon clean up there were more than 1,000 people working along with more than 32 ships and several aircrafts. " Our response plan is focused on quickly securing the source of the subsurface oil emanating from the well, cleaning the oil on the surface of the water and keeping the respon well offshore."

Overall the Gulf of Mexico was the largest and most dangerous oil spill in American history. The Exxon Valdez was another, not so big but, dangerous oil spill that both lead to lose a lot of wildlife animals and damaged local beaches. The clean up for both of the oil spills was a lot to take on and still today there is still some oil found on some beaches and hidden under some rocks due to the masive oil spills.