A Review of Dispersant Use in Response to the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Bryant Turffs

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Weber, Diana

Keywords

Oil Spill, Oil Dispersant, Deepwater Horizon

Area of Concentration

Environmental Science

Abstract

The British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an unprecedented event due to the depth at which it occurred and the amount of oil discharged. Chemical dispersants, which break oil into droplets and facilitate diffusion into the water column, were applied to the oil spill to mitigate the damage caused to shoreline environments and surface dwelling organisms. Dispersants may also increase the rate at which oil is consumed by microbes. Due to the location of the oil discharge in the deep ocean, dispersants were also applied at the sea floor to enhance efficacy. The biological effects of chemically dispersed oil are poorly understood especially in the deep sea. Dispersants are thought to decrease the harmful effects of oil to shorelines and surface communities, but may increase harm to the communities of the water column. The scale of this spill and its location made responding to the spill difficult and highlighted insufficient industry oversight and contingency planning. Dispersants were used in accordance with existing US laws. The biological and environmental impacts have yet to be fully understood. Further research on the effects of this spill must be conducted because the offshore drilling industry is growing, increasing the chances of a similar occurrence in the future.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS