In April of 2010, BP had a blowout in the Macondo well deep in the ocean. This disaster is said to be one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. Although BP worked with the coast guard and tried to plug the hole multiple times, it took over 3 months to finally put a cap on the well stopping the oil spill, and almost 6 months to permanently seal the leaking well. It is estimated that a total of 4.4m barrels of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico during the nearly three months the well leaked freely into the ocean. The cost of cleanup has been an outrageous $40bn. This disaster will continue to affect wildlife for years to come. Fishing was banned in the area, causing a shortage of fish in the markets. This in turn caused the price to go through the roof. Due to the oil pollution, many animals died, and the coral reefs have been devastated. Because of all of the negative attention BP fell off of the top 100 companies list. The Oil Pollution Act was passed in 1990 by the 101st United States Congress and signed by President George H. W. Bush in response to the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. As it was felt that better coordinated efforts could have minimized the damage, and also minimized the civil liability of any future spills (“Oil pollution act of 1990,” 2017). In general, the act is capable of preventing a number of smaller spills. An example is the effectiveness of double-hull tankers:
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However, it could not contain the largest marine oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, because the act was more created for spills not blowouts that we seen happen in
However, it could not contain the largest marine oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, because the act was more created for spills not blowouts that we seen happen in