
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills can result from the release of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs, and wells. They may also involve spills of refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as their by-products. Additionally, heavier fuels used by large ships, such as bunker fuel, or spills of any oily refuse or waste oil, contribute to such incidents. These spills can have severe environmental and economic consequences.


Oil spills penetrate into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up.
Oil spills can have disastrous consequences for society; economically, environmentally, and socially. As a result, oil spill accidents have initiated intense media attention and political uproar, bringing many together in a political struggle concerning government response to oil spills and what actions can best prevent them from happening.
Human impacts
An oil spill represents an immediate negative effects on human health, including respiratory and reproductive problems as well as liver, and immune system damage. Oil spills causing future oil supply to decline also effects the everyday life of humans such as the potential closure of beaches, parks, fisheries and fire hazards. The Kuwaiti oil fires produced air pollution that caused respiratory distress. The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed eleven oil rig workers. The fire resulting from the Lac-Mégantic derailment killed 47 and destroyed half of the town's centre.
Spilled oil can also contaminate drinking water supplies. For example, in 2013 two different oil spills contaminated water supplies for 300,000 in Miri, Malaysia; 80,000 people in Coca, Ecuador. In 2000, springs were contaminated by an oil spill in Clark County, Kentucky.

Contamination can have an economic impact on tourism and marine resource extraction industries. For example, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted beach tourism and fishing along the Gulf Coast, and the responsible parties were required to compensate economic victims.
Environmental effects


Animals
The threat posed to birds, fish, shellfish and crustaceans from spilled oil was known in England in the 1920s, largely through observations made in Yorkshire. The subject was also explored in a scientific paper produced by the National Academy of Sciences in the US in 1974 which considered impacts to fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The paper was limited to 100 copies and was described as a draft document, not to be cited.
In general, spilled oil can affect animals and plants in two ways: dirесt from the oil and from the response or cleanup process. Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing their insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water.
Animals who rely on scent to find their babies or mothers cannot do so due to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned, leaving the babies to starve and eventually die. Oil can impair a bird's ability to fly, preventing it from foraging or escaping from predators. As they preen, birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers, irritating the digestive tract, altering liver function, and causing kidney damage. Together with their diminished foraging capacity, this can rapidly result in dehydration and metabolic imbalance. Some birds exposed to petroleum also experience changes in their hormonal balance, including changes in their luteinizing protein. The majority of birds affected by oil spills die from complications without human intervention. Some studies have suggested that less than one percent of oil-soaked birds survive, even after cleaning, although the survival rate can also exceed ninety percent, as in the case of the MV Treasure oil spill. Oil spills and oil dumping events have been impacting sea birds since at least the 1920s and was understood to be a global problem in the 1930s.
Heavily furred marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways. Oil coats the fur of sea otters and seals, reducing its insulating effect, and leading to fluctuations in body temperature and hypothermia. Oil can also blind an animal, leaving it defenseless. The ingestion of oil causes dehydration and impairs the digestive process. Animals can be poisoned, and may die from oil entering the lungs or liver.
Air
In addition, oil spills can also harm air quality. The chemicals in crude oil are mostly hydrocarbons that contains toxic chemicals such as benzenes, toluene, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemicals can introduce adverse health effects when being inhaled into human body. In addition, these chemicals can be oxidized by oxidants in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter after they evaporate into the atmosphere. These particulates can penetrate lungs and carry toxic chemicals into the human body. Burning surface oil can also be a source for pollution such as soot particles. During the cleanup and recovery process, it will also generate air pollutants such as nitric oxides and ozone from ships. Lastly, bubble bursting can also be a generation pathway for particulate matter during an oil spill. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, significant air quality issues were found on the Gulf Coast, which is the downwind of DWH oil spill. Air quality monitoring data showed that criteria pollutants had exceeded the health-based standard in the coastal regions.
Ecosystems, habitat
The majority of oil from an oil spill remains in the environment, hence a spill from an operation in the ocean is different from an operation on tundra or wetland. Wetlands are considered one of the most sensitive habitats to oil spills and the most difficult to clean.
Sources and rate of occurrence
Oil spills can be caused by human error, natural disasters, technical failures or deliberate releases. It is estimated that 30–50% of all oil spills are directly or indirectly caused by human error, with approximately 20–40% of oil spills being attributed to equipment failure or malfunction. Causes of oil spills are further distinguished between deliberate releases, such as operational discharges or acts of war and accidental releases. Accidental oil spills are in the focus of the literature, although some of the largest oil spills ever recorded, the Gulf War Oil Spill (sea based) and Kuwaiti Oil Fires (land based) were deliberate acts of war. The academic study of sources and causes of oil spills identifies vulnerable points in oil transportation infrastructure and calculates the likelihood of oil spills happening. This can then guide prevention efforts and regulation policies
Natural seeps
Around 40–50% of all oil released into the oceans stems from natural seeps from seafloor rocks. This corresponds to approximately 600,000 tons annually on a global level. While natural seeps are the single largest source of oil spills, they are considered less problematic because ecosystems have adapted to such regular releases. For instance, on sites of natural oil seeps, ocean bacteria have evolved to digest oil molecules.
Oil tankers and vessels
Vessels can be the source of oil spills either through operational releases of oil or in the case of oil tanker accidents. As of 2007, operational discharges from vessels were estimated to account for 21% of oil releases from vessels. They occur as a consequence of failure to comply with regulations or arbitrary discharges of waste oil and water containing such oil residues. Such operational discharges are regulated through the MARPOL convention. Operational releases are frequent, but small in the amount of oil spilled per release, and are often not in the focus of attention regarding oil spills. There has been a steady decrease of operational discharges of oil, with an additional decrease of around 50% since the 1990s.
As of 2007,[update] accidental oil tank vessel spills accounted for approximately 8–13% of all oil spilled into the oceans. The main causes of oil tank vessel spills were collision (29%), grounding (22%), mishandling (14%) and sinking (12%), among others. Oil tanker spills are considered a major ecological threat due to the large amount of oil spilled per accident and the fact that major sea traffic routes are close to Large Marine Ecosystems. Around 90% of the world's oil transportation is through oil tankers, and the absolute amount of seaborne oil trade is steadily increasing. However, there has been a reduction of the number of spills from oil tankers and of the amount of oil released per oil tanker spill. In 1992, MARPOL was amended and made it mandatory for large tankers (5,000 dwt and more) to be fitted with double hulls. This is considered to be a major reason for the reduction of oil tanker spills, alongside other innovations such as GPS, sectioning of vessels and sea lanes in narrow straits.
In 2023, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) documented a significant oil spill incident of over 700 tonnes and nine medium spills ranging between 7 and 700 tonnes. The major spill occurred in Asia involving heavy fuel oil, and the medium spills were scattered across Asia, Africa, Europe, and America, involving various oil types.
The total volume of oil released from these spills in 2023 was approximately 2,000 tonnes. This contributes to a trend of decreased oil spill volumes and frequencies over the decades. Comparatively, the 1970s averaged 79 significant spills per year, which drastically reduced to an average of about 6.3 per year in the 2010s, and has maintained a similar level in the current decade.
The reduction in oil spill volume has also been substantial over the years. For instance, the 1990s recorded 1,134,000 tonnes lost, mainly from 10 major spills. This figure decreased to 196,000 tonnes in the 2000s and 164,000 tonnes in the 2010s. In the early 2020s, approximately 28,000 tonnes have been lost, predominantly from major incidents.
Offshore oil platforms

Accidental spills from oil platforms nowadays account for approximately 3% of oil spills in the oceans. Prominent offshore oil platform spills typically occurred as a result of a blowout. They can go on for months until relief wells have been drilled, resulting in enormous amounts of oil leaked. Notable examples of such oil spills are Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc I. While technologies for drilling in deep water have significantly improved in the past 30–40 years, oil companies move to drilling sites in more and more difficult places. This ambiguous development results in no clear trend regarding the frequency of offshore oil platform spills.
Pipelines
As of 2010, overall, there has been a substantial increase of pipeline oil spills in the past four decades. Prominent examples include oil spills of pipelines in the Niger Delta. Pipeline oil spills can be caused by trawling of fishing boats, natural disasters, pipe corrosion, construction defects, sabotage, or an attack, as with the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline in Colombia.
Pipelines as sources of oil spills are estimated to contribute 1% of oil pollution to the oceans. Reasons for this are underreporting, and many oil pipeline leaks occur on land with only fractions of that oil reaching the oceans.
Other sources
Recreational boats can spill oil into the ocean because of operational or human error and unpreparedness. The amounts are however small, and such oil spills are hard to track due to underreporting.
Oil can reach the oceans as oil and fuel from land-based sources. It is estimated that runoff oil and oil from rivers are responsible for 11% of oil pollution to the oceans. Such pollution can also be oil on roads from land vehicles, which is then flushed into the oceans during rainstorms. Purely land-based oil spills are different from maritime oil spills in that oil on land does not spread as quickly as in water, and effects thus remain local.
Cleanup and recovery



Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Physical cleanups of oil spills are also very expensive. Until the 1960s, the best method for remediation consisted of putting straw on the spill and retrieving the oil-soaked straw manually. Chemical remediation is the norm as of the early 21st century, using compounds that can herd and thicken oil for physical recovery, disperse oil in the water, or facilitate burning the oil off. The future of oil cleanup technology is likely the use of microorganisms such as Fusobacteriota (formerly Fusobacteria), species demonstrate potential for future oil spill cleanup because of their ability to colonize and degrade oil slicks on the sea surface.
There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-producing bacteria are anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain. The chemicals from the oil which dissolve in water, and hence are available to bacteria, are those in the water associated fraction of the oil.
Methods for cleaning up include:
- Bioremediation: use of microorganisms or biological agents to break down or remove oil; such as Alcanivorax bacteria or Methylocella silvestris.
- Bioremediation Accelerator: a binder molecule that moves hydrocarbons out of water and into gels, when combined with nutrients, encourages natural bioremediation. Oleophilic, hydrophobic chemical, containing no bacteria, which chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface, floating molecules such as phenol and BTEX to the surface of the water, forming gel-like agglomerations. Undetectable levels of hydrocarbons can be obtained in produced water and manageable water columns. By overspraying sheen with bioremediation accelerator, sheen is eliminated within minutes. Whether applied on land or on water, the nutrient-rich emulsion creates a bloom of local, indigenous, pre-existing, hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria. Those specific bacteria break down the hydrocarbons into water and carbon dioxide, with EPA tests showing 98% of alkanes biodegraded in 28 days; and aromatics being biodegraded 200 times faster than in nature they also sometimes use the hydrofireboom to clean the oil up by taking it away from most of the oil and burning it.
- Controlled burning can effectively reduce the amount of oil in water, if done properly. But it can only be done in low wind, and can cause air pollution.


- Dispersants can be used to dissipate oil slicks. A dispersant is either a non-surface active polymer or a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping. They may rapidly disperse large amounts of certain oil types from the sea surface by transferring it into the water column. They will cause the oil slick to break up and form water-soluble micelles that are rapidly diluted. The oil is then effectively spread throughout a larger volume of water than the surface from where the oil was dispersed. They can also delay the formation of persistent oil-in-water emulsions. However, laboratory experiments showed that dispersants increased toxic hydrocarbon levels in fish by a factor of up to 100 and may kill fish eggs. Dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate coral. Research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals. A 2012 study found that Corexit dispersant had increased the toxicity of oil by up to 52 times. In 2019, the U.S. National Academies released a report analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of several response methods and tools.
- Watch and wait: in some cases, natural attenuation of oil may be most appropriate, due to the invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands.
- Dredging: for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
- Skimming: Requires calm waters at all times during the process.
- Solidifying: Solidifiers are composed of tiny, floating, dry ice pellets, and hydrophobic polymers that both adsorb and absorb. They clean up oil spills by changing the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a solid, semi-solid or a rubber-like material that floats on water. Solidifiers are insoluble in water, therefore the removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out. Solidifiers have been proven to be relatively non-toxic to aquatic and wildlife and have been proven to suppress harmful vapors commonly associated with hydrocarbons such as benzene, xylene and naphtha. The reaction time for solidification of oil is controlled by the surface area or size of the polymer or dry pellets as well as the viscosity and thickness of the oil layer. Some solidifier product manufacturers claim the solidified oil can be thawed and used if frozen with dry ice or disposed of in landfills, recycled as an additive in asphalt or rubber products, or burned as a low ash fuel. A solidifier called C.I.Agent (manufactured by C.I.Agent Solutions of Louisville, Kentucky) is being used by BP in granular form, as well as in Marine and Sheen Booms at Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan, Alabama, to aid in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup.
- Vacuum and centrifuge: oil can be sucked up along with the water, and then a centrifuge can be used to separate the oil from the water – allowing a tanker to be filled with near pure oil. Usually, the water is returned to the sea, making the process more efficient, but allowing small amounts of oil to go back as well. This issue has hampered the use of centrifuges due to a United States regulation limiting the amount of oil in water returned to the sea.
- Beach Raking: coagulated oil that is left on the beach can be picked up by machinery.

Equipment used includes:
- Booms: large floating barriers that round up oil and lift the oil off the water
- Skimmers: skim the oil
- Sorbents: large absorbents that absorb oil and adsorb small droplets
- Chemical and biological agents: helps to break down the oil
- Vacuums: remove oil from beaches and water surface
- Shovels and other road equipment: typically used to clean up oil on beaches
Prevention
- Secondary containment – methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into the environment.
- Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
- Double-hulling – build double hulls into vessels, which reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding. Existing single-hull vessels can also be rebuilt to have a double hull.
- Thick-hulled railroad transport tanks.
Spill response procedures should include elements such as;
- A listing of appropriate protective clothing, safety equipment, and cleanup materials required for spill cleanup (gloves, respirators, etc.) and an explanation of their proper use;
- Appropriate evacuation zones and procedures;
- Availability of fire suppression equipment;
- Disposal containers for spill cleanup materials; and
- The first aid procedures that might be required.
Research
- Adaptation of the oil bee's, e.g. Macropis fulvipes', mechanism for harvesting flower oils has led to the biomimetic development of an additional oil spill recovery method. Oil bees have oleophilic properties in their hair-like protrusions that collect and store oil. This technique has been applied to textiles that can be used to remove oil from sea water.
Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) mapping
Environmental Sensitivity Indexes (ESI) are tools used to create Environmental Sensitivity Maps (ESM). ESM's are pre-planning tools used to identify sensitive areas and resources prior to an oil spill event in order to set priorities for protection and plan clean-up strategies. It is to date the most commonly used mapping tool for sensitive area plotting. The ESI has three components: A shoreline type ranking system, a biological resources section, and a human-use resource category.
History and development
ESI is the most frequently used sensitivity mapping tool yet. It was first applied in 1979 in response to an oil-spill near Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. To this time, ESI maps were prepared merely days in advance of one's arrival to an oil spill location. ESMs used to be atlases, maps consisting of thousands of pages that could solely work with spills in the oceans. In the past 3 decades, this product has been transformed into a versatile online tool. This conversion allows sensitivity indexing to become more adaptable and in 1995 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked on the tool allowing ESI to extended maps to lakes, rivers, and estuary shoreline types. ESI maps have since become integral to collecting, synthesizing, and producing data which have previously never been accessible in digital formats. Especially in the United States, the tool has made impressive advancements in developing tidal bay protection strategies, collecting seasonal information and generally in the modelling of sensitive areas. Together with Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS), ESI integrates their techniques to successfully geographically reference the three different types of resources.
Usage and application
The ESI depicts environmental stability, coastal resilience to maritime related catastrophes, and the configurations of a stress-response relationship between all things maritime. Created for ecological-related decision making, ESMs can accurately identify sensitive areas and habitats, clean-up responses, response measures and monitoring strategies for oil-spills. The maps allow experts from varying fields to come together and work efficiently during fast-paced response operations. The process of making an ESI atlas involves GIS technology. The steps involve, first zoning the area that is to be mapped, and secondly, a meeting with local and regional experts on the area and its resources. Following, all the shoreline types, biological, and human use resources need to be identified and their locations pinpointed. Once all this information is gathered, it then becomes digitized. In its digital format, classifications are set in place, tables are produced and local experts refine the product before it gets released.
ESI's current most common use is within contingency planning. After the maps are calculated and produced, the most sensitive areas get picked out and authenticated. These areas then go through a scrutinization process throughout which methods of protection and resource assessments are obtained. This in-depth research is then put back into the ESMs to develop their accuracy and allowing for tactical information to be stored in them as well. The finished maps are then used for drills and trainings for clean-up efficiency. Trainings also often help to update the maps and tweak certain flaws that might have occurred in the previous steps.
ESI Categories
Shoreline type
Shoreline type is classified by rank depending on how easy the target site would be to clean up, how long the oil would persist, and how sensitive the shoreline is. The ranking system works on a 10-point scale where the higher the rank, the more sensitive a habitat or shore is. The coding system usually works in colour, where warm colours are used for the increasingly sensitive types and cooler colours are used for robust shores. For each navigable body of water, there is a feature classifying its sensitivity to oil. Shoreline type mapping codes a large range of ecological settings including estuarine, lacustrine, and riverine environments. Floating oil slicks put the shoreline at particular risk when they eventually come ashore, covering the substrate with oil. The differing substrates between shoreline types vary in their response to oiling, and influence the type of cleanup that will be required to effectively decontaminate the shoreline. Hence ESI shoreline ranking helps committees identify which clean-up techniques are approved or detrimental the natural environment. The exposure the shoreline has to wave energy and tides, substrate type, and slope of the shoreline are also taken into account—in addition to biological productivity and sensitivity.Mangroves and marshes tend to have higher ESI rankings due to the potentially long-lasting and damaging effects of both oil contamination and cleanup actions. Impermeable and exposed surfaces with high wave action are ranked lower due to the reflecting waves keeping oil from coming onshore, and the speed at which natural processes will remove the oil.
Biological resources
Within the biological resources, the ESI maps protected areas as well as those with bio-diverse importance. These are usually identified through the UNEP-WCMC Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool. There are varying types of coastal habitats and ecosystems and thus also many endangered species that need to be considered when looking at affected areas post oil spills. The habitats of plants and animals that may be at risk from oil spills are referred to as "elements" and are divided by functional group. Further classification divides each element into species groups with similar life histories and behaviors relative to their vulnerability to oil spills. There are eight element groups: birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, habitats and plants, wetlands, and marine mammals and terrestrial mammals. Element groups are further divided into sub-groups, for example, the ‘marine mammals’ element group is divided into dolphins, manatees, pinnipeds (seals, sea lions & walruses), polar bears, sea otters and whales. Necessary when ranking and selecting species is their vulnerability to the oil spills themselves. This not only includes their reactions to such events but also their fragility, the scale of large clusters of animals, whether special life stages occur ashore, and whether any present species is threatened, endangered or rare. The way in which the biological resources are mapped is through symbols representing the species, and polygons and lines to map out the special extent of the species. The symbols also have the ability to identify the most vulnerable of a species life stages, such as the molting, nesting, hatching or migration patterns. This allows for more accurate response plans during those given periods. There is also a division for sub-tidal habitats which are equally important to coastal biodiversity including kelp, coral reefs and sea beds which are not commonly mapped within the shoreline ESI type.
Human-use resources
Human-use resources are also often referred to as socio-economic features, which map inanimate resources that have the potential to be directly impacted by oil pollution. Human-use resources that are mapped within the ESI will have socio-economic repercussions to an oil spill. These resources are divided into four major classifications: archaeological importance or cultural resource site, high-use recreational areas or shoreline access points, important protected management areas, and resource origins. Some examples include airports, diving sites, popular beach sites, marinas, hotels, factories, natural reserves or marine sanctuaries. When mapped, the human-use resources the need protecting must be certified by a local or regional policy maker. These resources are often extremely vulnerable to seasonal changes due to ex. fishing and tourism. For this category there are also a set of symbols available to demonstrate their importance on ESMs.
Estimating the volume of a spill
By observing the thickness of the film of oil and its appearance on the surface of the water, it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled. If the surface area of the spill is also known, the total volume of the oil can be calculated.
Film thickness | Quantity spread | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appearance | inches | mm | nm | gal/sq mi | L/ha |
Barely visible | 0.0000015 | 0.0000380 | 38 | 25 | 0.370 |
Silvery sheen | 0.0000030 | 0.0000760 | 76 | 50 | 0.730 |
First trace of color | 0.0000060 | 0.0001500 | 150 | 100 | 1.500 |
Bright bands of color | 0.0000120 | 0.0003000 | 300 | 200 | 2.900 |
Colors begin to dull | 0.0000400 | 0.0010000 | 1000 | 666 | 9.700 |
Colors are much darker | 0.0000800 | 0.0020000 | 2000 | 1332 | 19.500 |
Oil spill model systems are used by industry and government to assist in planning and emergency decision making. Of critical importance for the skill of the oil spill model prediction is the adequate description of the wind and current fields. There is a worldwide oil spill modelling (WOSM) program. Tracking the scope of an oil spill may also involve verifying that hydrocarbons collected during an ongoing spill are derived from the active spill or some other source. This can involve sophisticated analytical chemistry focused on finger printing an oil source based on the complex mixture of substances present. Largely, these will be various hydrocarbons, among the most useful being polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, both oxygen and nitrogen heterocyclic hydrocarbons, such as parent and alkyl homologues of carbazole, quinoline, and pyridine, are present in many crude oils. As a result, these compounds have great potential to supplement the existing suite of hydrocarbons targets to fine-tune source tracking of petroleum spills. Such analysis can also be used to follow weathering and degradation of crude spills.
Largest oil spills
Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged vulnerable ecosystems in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, France, the Sundarbans and many other places. The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (e.g., Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz), but volume is a limited measure of damage or impact. Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill because of the remoteness of the site or the difficulty of an emergency environmental response.
Oil spills in the Niger Delta are among the worst on the planet and is often used as an example of ecocide. Between 1970 and 2000, there were over 7,000 spills. Between 1956 and 2006, up to 1.5 million tons of oil were spilled in the Niger Delta.
Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil.[citation needed] These can kill seabirds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms they coat. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.[citation needed]
Spill / Tanker | Location | Date | Tonnes of crude oil (thousands) | Barrels (thousands) | US Gallons (thousands) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kuwaiti Oil Fires | Kuwait | January 16, 1991 – November 6, 1991 | 136,000 | 1,000,000 | 42,000,000 | |
Kuwaiti Oil Lakes | Kuwait | January 1991 – November 1991 | 3,409–6,818 | 25,000–50,000 | 1,050,000–2,100,000 | |
Lakeview Gusher | Kern County, California, USA | March 14, 1910 – September 1911 | 1,200 | 9,000 | 378,000 | |
Gulf War oil spill | Kuwait, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf | January 19, 1991 – January 28, 1991 | 818–1,091 | 6,000–8,000 | 252,000–336,000 | |
Deepwater Horizon | United States, Gulf of Mexico | April 20, 2010 – July 15, 2010 | 560–585 | 4,100–4,900 | 189,000–231,000 | |
Ixtoc I | Mexico, Gulf of Mexico | June 3, 1979 – March 23, 1980 | 454–480 | 3,329–3,520 | 139,818–147,840 | |
Atlantic Empress / Aegean Captain | Trinidad and Tobago | July 19, 1979 | 287 | 2,105 | 88,396 | |
Fergana Valley | Uzbekistan | March 2, 1992 | 285 | 2,090 | 87,780 | |
Nowruz Field Platform | Iran, Persian Gulf | February 4, 1983 | 260 | 1,900 | 80,000 | |
ABT Summer | Angola, 700 nmi (1,300 km; 810 mi) offshore | May 28, 1991 | 260 | 1,907 | 80,080 | |
Castillo de Bellver | South Africa, Saldanha Bay | August 6, 1983 | 252 | 1,848 | 77,616 | |
Amoco Cadiz | France, Brittany | March 16, 1978 | 223 | 1,635 | 68,684 | |
Taylor Energy | United States, Gulf of Mexico | September 23, 2004 – Present | 210–490 | 1,500–3,500 | 63,000–147,000 | |
Odyssey | off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada | November 10, 1988 | 132 | 968 | 40,704 | |
Torrey Canyon | England, Cornwall | March 18, 1967 | 119 | 872 | 36,635 |
- One metric ton (tonne) of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons or 7.33 barrels approx.; 1 oil barrel (bbl) is equal to 35 imperial or 42 US gallons. Approximate conversion factors. Archived 2014-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Estimates for the amount of oil burned in the Kuwaiti Oil Fires range from 500,000,000 barrels (79,000,000 m3) to nearly 2,000,000,000 barrels (320,000,000 m3). Between 605 and 732 wells were set ablaze, while many others were severely damaged and gushed uncontrolled for several months. It took over ten months to bring all of the wells under control. The fires alone were estimated to consume approximately 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m3) of oil per day at their peak.
- Oil spilled from sabotaged fields in Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War pooled in approximately 300 oil lakes, estimated by the Kuwaiti Oil Minister to contain approximately 25,000,000 to 50,000,000 barrels (7,900,000 m3) of oil. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, this figure does not include the amount of oil absorbed by the ground, forming a layer of "tarcrete" over approximately five percent of the surface of Kuwait, fifty times the area occupied by the oil lakes.
- Estimates for the Gulf War oil spill range from 4,000,000 to 11,000,000 barrels (1,700,000 m3). The figure of 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 barrels (1,300,000 m3) is the range adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations in the immediate aftermath of the war, 1991–1993, and is still current, as cited by NOAA and The New York Times in 2010. This amount only includes oil discharged directly into the Persian Gulf by the retreating Iraqi forces from January 19 to 28, 1991. However, according to the U.N. report, oil from other sources not included in the official estimates continued to pour into the Persian Gulf through June, 1991. The amount of this oil was estimated to be at least several hundred thousand barrels, and may have factored into the estimates above 8,000,000 barrels (1,300,000 m3).
The economic impact of oil spills
Oil spills can have devastating environmental impacts; however, they often have equally detrimental economic consequences. These disasters do not only pose immediate threats to marine ecosystems, but also leave lasting impacts on local and regional economies. This section will explore the multifaceted economic repercussions of oil spills, specifically considering: the decline in tourism, the reduction in fishing, and the impact on port activity.
Decline in tourism
In the short term, an oil spill will prevent tourists from partaking in usual recreational activities such as swimming, boating, diving, and angling. As such, the area will witness a decline in tourism. This will negatively impact several industries. Firstly, the hotels, restaurants, and bars in the immediate vicinity will have significantly fewer customers. Local car park owners and shopkeepers will be affected too. Then, this decline in tourists will cause further damage to travel agencies, tour guides, and transport companies. The beaches will likely stay shut for several days whilst clean-up operations take place, and there may be disruption caused by an increase in clean-up vehicles. Overall, several businesses will be negatively impacted by the spill in the short term, which can lead to further long-term damage should companies be forced to reduce staff or shut down entirely.
Often, this process is intensified by disproportionate media attention. Usually, the affected area returns to normal relatively soon after an oil spill, as the clean-up process is fast. However, media stories will drive future tourists away, as they work to degrade the popular image of a destination with exaggerated stories of oil on beaches and deserted hotels. This aggravates the economic losses, as people continue to choose to travel elsewhere. Such a scenario is particularly damaging for regions which are very reliant on the tourism industry. For example, the Brazilian Northeast can be very vulnerable to drops in tourism, thus, they were badly impacted following a 2500 tonne crude oil spill from an unknown tanker in 2019.
Similarly, tourism in Ibiza was severely impacted in 2007. Just 20 tonnes of oil were spilled from the Don Pedro in July 2007, a relatively limited volume compared with other spills. Whilst this caused just a small amount of environmental damage, the economic damage was disproportionately large. Most beaches were reopened within a week, just a dozen seabirds were affected, and there were no reports of injured sea mammals. Nonetheless, 27 percent of hotels in Ibiza were negatively affected, with two thirds of these being seafront hotels. Thus, 32 claims were made by tourist firms, equating to approximately 1.5 million euros of compensation. This provides a clear example of an oil spill resulting in massive economic disaster. Furthermore, following the world's largest oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010, the U.S. Travel Association estimated 23 billion dollars’ worth of associated costs for affected tourist infrastructure.
Reduction in fishing
After the Deepwater Horizon crisis, the Gulf of Mexico suffered an estimated 1.9-billion-dollar loss in revenue from fishing. This is because fishing closures were imposed due to fears of the safety of seafood, there was also a decline in demand, as seafood restaurants and markets suffered such severe losses that many were forced to shut. Usually, the Gulf sees an average of 106,703 fishing trips per day, equating to 1 million metric tonnes of annual fishery landings. Therefore, the necessary fishing ban following the disaster was highly damaging. Similarly, following the sinking of the Prestige oil tanker near Galicia, Spain, in November 2002, 77,000 tonnes of crude oil were spilled into the ocean. This disaster has had severe economic consequences, alongside the environmental damage. Large zones were cordoned in which fishing was banned, with these bans lasting for more than eight months. This affected several groups, including fishermen, ship owners, and the companies who bought and sold the fish. Several compensatory actions were introduced, including tax benefits and aid. This resulted in expenses of approximately 113 million euros in an attempt to compensate for the halt in fishing activity. The examples of the Deepwater Horizon and the Prestige clearly illustrate the severe economic consequences when oil spills prevent commercial fishing.
Water pollution due to oil spills can be severe, often resulting in the death or injury of many sea creatures, including birds, sea mammals, fish, algae, and coral. The impact on fish caught in the spill has both immediate and longer-term impacts. Immediately, the fish are tainted with oil, and they cannot be used commercially due to safety reasons. Then, the oil can spread and sink below the water's surface. If fish swallow the oil, they are also inconsumable due to the health risk posed to humans. Therefore, massive economic damage is caused to the fishing industry following an oil spill, as the stock is vastly reduced. Furthermore, the oil can cause damage to the equipment and boats of fishermen. Clean-up operations can also interrupt usual fishing routes, and sometimes fishing bans are imposed. This further illustrates the damaging economic effects of oil spills on commercial fishing, which is particularly detrimental for regions whose economy relies heavily on fishing.
The impact on port activity
Ports are major hubs for economic activity; thus, an oil spill in or near a port can have significant consequences. During and following a spill, all boats entering or leaving the port must be closely managed in order to prevent further spread. Furthermore, specialist cleaning contractors must be hired to effectively clean the various port structures. Oil spills are relatively regular occurrences in ports, as small spills often happen due to the large volume of boats, and these are not as well documented in the media as larger events are. However, these spills must still be dealt with, and they can still have damaging economic repercussions. Both the incident and the response require expensive and time-consuming management which is disruptive to port activity. Furthermore, special care must be taken during clean-up operations to ensure that the oil does not get stuck under the quayside, as this could act as a continual source of oil contamination. This can also be seen with sea defenses; should the oil penetrate deep into the structures, they may become a source of secondary pollution. Therefore, it is crucial for ports to manage and mitigate any oil spills, in order to limit the damage to ships and shipping operations. Otherwise, should large disruption occur, the economic damage can be extensive due to costly clean-up processes and delayed shipments.
Summary
The economic impact of oil spills on tourism, fishing, and ports is substantial and important to assess. Coordinated efforts are necessary to mitigate these impacts, including effective clean-up measures, public relations campaigns to restore the image of affected areas, and support for businesses and communities that must bear the economic downturn.
See also

- Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills
- Environmental issues with petroleum
- Environmental issues with shipping
- LNG spill
- Storm oil
- Low-temperature thermal desorption
- National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
- Ohmsett (Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank)
- Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (in the US)
- Oil well
- Penguin sweater
- Project Deep Spill, the first intentional deepwater oil and gas spill
- Pseudomonas putida (used for degrading oil)
- S-200 (fertilizer)
- ShoreZone
- Spill containment
- Tarball
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- Surís-Regueiro, Garza-Gil and Varela-Lafuente (2007). "The Prestige oil spill and its economic impact on the Galician fishing sector". Disasters. 31 (2): 201–215. Bibcode:2007Disas..31..201S. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.2007.01004.x. hdl:11093/3459. PMID 17461923.
- Alvernia, Utomo and Herdiansyah (2021). "Studies of fishermen's economic loss due to oil spills". IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 802 (1): 012002. Bibcode:2021E&ES..802a2002A. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/802/1/012002.
- O'Brien (2006). "Oil spills in ports". Ports and Harbours: 34–35.
- O'Brien (2006). "Oil Spills in ports". Ports and Harbors: 34–35.
- Sarder, Chad and Richard (2011). "Modeling Logistical & Economical Impact of Oil Spill on the Gulf Coast". Proceedings of the 2011 Industrial Engineering Research Conference.
Further reading
- Nelson-Smith, Oil Pollution and Marine Ecology, Elek Scientific, London, 1972; Plenum, New York, 1973
- Oil Spill Case Histories 1967–1991, NOAA/Hazardous Materials and Response Division, Seattle, WA, 1992
- Ramseur, Jonathan L. Oil Spills: Background and Governance, Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC, September 15, 2017
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment especially the marine ecosystem due to human activity and is a form of pollution The term is usually given to marine oil spills where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters but spills may also occur on land Oil spills can result from the release of crude oil from tankers offshore platforms drilling rigs and wells They may also involve spills of refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel fuel as well as their by products Additionally heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel or spills of any oily refuse or waste oil contribute to such incidents These spills can have severe environmental and economic consequences Kelp after an oil spill Oil slick from the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea September 2009 Oil spills penetrate into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals reducing its insulating ability and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors including the type of oil spilled the temperature of the water affecting evaporation and biodegradation and the types of shorelines and beaches involved 1 Spills may take weeks months or even years to clean up 2 Oil spills can have disastrous consequences for society economically environmentally and socially As a result oil spill accidents have initiated intense media attention and political uproar bringing many together in a political struggle concerning government response to oil spills and what actions can best prevent them from happening 3 Contents 1 Human impacts 2 Environmental effects 2 1 Animals 2 2 Air 2 3 Ecosystems habitat 3 Sources and rate of occurrence 3 1 Natural seeps 3 2 Oil tankers and vessels 3 3 Offshore oil platforms 3 4 Pipelines 3 5 Other sources 4 Cleanup and recovery 4 1 Prevention 4 2 Research 5 Environmental Sensitivity Index ESI mapping 5 1 History and development 5 2 Usage and application 5 3 ESI Categories 5 3 1 Shoreline type 5 3 2 Biological resources 5 3 3 Human use resources 6 Estimating the volume of a spill 7 Largest oil spills 8 The economic impact of oil spills 8 1 Decline in tourism 8 2 Reduction in fishing 8 3 The impact on port activity 8 4 Summary 9 See also 10 References 11 Further readingHuman impactseditAn oil spill represents an immediate negative effects on human health including respiratory and reproductive problems as well as liver and immune system damage Oil spills causing future oil supply to decline also effects the everyday life of humans such as the potential closure of beaches parks fisheries and fire hazards The Kuwaiti oil fires produced air pollution that caused respiratory distress 4 The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed eleven oil rig workers 5 The fire resulting from the Lac Megantic derailment killed 47 and destroyed half of the town s centre 6 Spilled oil can also contaminate drinking water supplies For example in 2013 two different oil spills contaminated water supplies for 300 000 in Miri Malaysia 7 80 000 people in Coca Ecuador 8 In 2000 springs were contaminated by an oil spill in Clark County Kentucky 9 nbsp Ballsh Mallakaster Albania 2019 Crude Oil Contamination can have an economic impact on tourism and marine resource extraction industries For example the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted beach tourism and fishing along the Gulf Coast and the responsible parties were required to compensate economic victims Environmental effectseditFurther information Oil pollution toxicity to marine fish nbsp A surf scoter covered in oil as a result of the 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill nbsp A bird covered in oil from the Black Sea oil spill Animalsedit The threat posed to birds fish shellfish and crustaceans from spilled oil was known in England in the 1920s largely through observations made in Yorkshire 10 The subject was also explored in a scientific paper produced by the National Academy of Sciences in the US in 1974 which considered impacts to fish crustaceans and molluscs The paper was limited to 100 copies and was described as a draft document not to be cited 11 In general spilled oil can affect animals and plants in two ways direst from the oil and from the response or cleanup process 12 13 14 15 Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals reducing their insulating ability and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water Animals who rely on scent to find their babies or mothers cannot do so due to the strong scent of the oil This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned leaving the babies to starve and eventually die Oil can impair a bird s ability to fly preventing it from foraging or escaping from predators As they preen birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers irritating the digestive tract altering liver function and causing kidney damage Together with their diminished foraging capacity this can rapidly result in dehydration and metabolic imbalance Some birds exposed to petroleum also experience changes in their hormonal balance including changes in their luteinizing protein 16 The majority of birds affected by oil spills die from complications without human intervention 17 18 Some studies have suggested that less than one percent of oil soaked birds survive even after cleaning 19 although the survival rate can also exceed ninety percent as in the case of the MV Treasure oil spill 20 Oil spills and oil dumping events have been impacting sea birds since at least the 1920s 21 22 23 and was understood to be a global problem in the 1930s 24 Heavily furred marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways Oil coats the fur of sea otters and seals reducing its insulating effect and leading to fluctuations in body temperature and hypothermia Oil can also blind an animal leaving it defenseless The ingestion of oil causes dehydration and impairs the digestive process Animals can be poisoned and may die from oil entering the lungs or liver Airedit In addition oil spills can also harm air quality 25 The chemicals in crude oil are mostly hydrocarbons that contains toxic chemicals such as benzenes toluene poly aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons These chemicals can introduce adverse health effects when being inhaled into human body In addition these chemicals can be oxidized by oxidants in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter after they evaporate into the atmosphere 26 These particulates can penetrate lungs and carry toxic chemicals into the human body Burning surface oil can also be a source for pollution such as soot particles During the cleanup and recovery process it will also generate air pollutants such as nitric oxides and ozone from ships Lastly bubble bursting can also be a generation pathway for particulate matter during an oil spill 27 During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill significant air quality issues were found on the Gulf Coast which is the downwind of DWH oil spill Air quality monitoring data showed that criteria pollutants had exceeded the health based standard in the coastal regions 28 Ecosystems habitatedit The majority of oil from an oil spill remains in the environment hence a spill from an operation in the ocean is different from an operation on tundra or wetland Wetlands are considered one of the most sensitive habitats to oil spills and the most difficult to clean 29 Sources and rate of occurrenceeditOil spills can be caused by human error natural disasters technical failures or deliberate releases 30 31 It is estimated that 30 50 of all oil spills are directly or indirectly caused by human error with approximately 20 40 of oil spills being attributed to equipment failure or malfunction 32 Causes of oil spills are further distinguished between deliberate releases such as operational discharges or acts of war and accidental releases Accidental oil spills are in the focus of the literature although some of the largest oil spills ever recorded the Gulf War Oil Spill sea based and Kuwaiti Oil Fires land based were deliberate acts of war 33 The academic study of sources and causes of oil spills identifies vulnerable points in oil transportation infrastructure and calculates the likelihood of oil spills happening This can then guide prevention efforts and regulation policies 34 Natural seepsedit Around 40 50 of all oil released into the oceans stems from natural seeps from seafloor rocks This corresponds to approximately 600 000 tons annually on a global level While natural seeps are the single largest source of oil spills they are considered less problematic because ecosystems have adapted to such regular releases For instance on sites of natural oil seeps ocean bacteria have evolved to digest oil molecules 35 36 33 Oil tankers and vesselsedit Vessels can be the source of oil spills either through operational releases of oil or in the case of oil tanker accidents As of 2007 operational discharges from vessels were estimated to account for 21 of oil releases from vessels 36 They occur as a consequence of failure to comply with regulations or arbitrary discharges of waste oil and water containing such oil residues 37 Such operational discharges are regulated through the MARPOL convention 38 Operational releases are frequent but small in the amount of oil spilled per release and are often not in the focus of attention regarding oil spills 36 There has been a steady decrease of operational discharges of oil with an additional decrease of around 50 since the 1990s 33 As of 2007 update accidental oil tank vessel spills accounted for approximately 8 13 of all oil spilled into the oceans 36 39 The main causes of oil tank vessel spills were collision 29 grounding 22 mishandling 14 and sinking 12 among others 36 40 Oil tanker spills are considered a major ecological threat due to the large amount of oil spilled per accident and the fact that major sea traffic routes are close to Large Marine Ecosystems 36 Around 90 of the world s oil transportation is through oil tankers and the absolute amount of seaborne oil trade is steadily increasing 39 However there has been a reduction of the number of spills from oil tankers and of the amount of oil released per oil tanker spill 39 33 In 1992 MARPOL was amended and made it mandatory for large tankers 5 000 dwt and more to be fitted with double hulls 41 This is considered to be a major reason for the reduction of oil tanker spills alongside other innovations such as GPS sectioning of vessels and sea lanes in narrow straits 33 36 In 2023 the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation ITOPF documented a significant oil spill incident of over 700 tonnes and nine medium spills ranging between 7 and 700 tonnes The major spill occurred in Asia involving heavy fuel oil and the medium spills were scattered across Asia Africa Europe and America involving various oil types 42 The total volume of oil released from these spills in 2023 was approximately 2 000 tonnes This contributes to a trend of decreased oil spill volumes and frequencies over the decades Comparatively the 1970s averaged 79 significant spills per year which drastically reduced to an average of about 6 3 per year in the 2010s and has maintained a similar level in the current decade 42 The reduction in oil spill volume has also been substantial over the years For instance the 1990s recorded 1 134 000 tonnes lost mainly from 10 major spills This figure decreased to 196 000 tonnes in the 2000s and 164 000 tonnes in the 2010s In the early 2020s approximately 28 000 tonnes have been lost predominantly from major incidents 42 Offshore oil platformsedit nbsp Chemical dispersants may be deployed from boats planes and underwater vehicles in response to an offshore oil spill Accidental spills from oil platforms nowadays account for approximately 3 of oil spills in the oceans 36 Prominent offshore oil platform spills typically occurred as a result of a blowout They can go on for months until relief wells have been drilled resulting in enormous amounts of oil leaked 33 Notable examples of such oil spills are Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc I While technologies for drilling in deep water have significantly improved in the past 30 40 years oil companies move to drilling sites in more and more difficult places This ambiguous development results in no clear trend regarding the frequency of offshore oil platform spills 33 Pipelinesedit As of 2010 overall there has been a substantial increase of pipeline oil spills in the past four decades 33 Prominent examples include oil spills of pipelines in the Niger Delta Pipeline oil spills can be caused by trawling of fishing boats natural disasters pipe corrosion construction defects sabotage or an attack 37 as with the Cano Limon Covenas pipeline in Colombia Pipelines as sources of oil spills are estimated to contribute 1 of oil pollution to the oceans 36 Reasons for this are underreporting and many oil pipeline leaks occur on land with only fractions of that oil reaching the oceans Other sourcesedit Recreational boats can spill oil into the ocean because of operational or human error and unpreparedness The amounts are however small and such oil spills are hard to track due to underreporting 35 Oil can reach the oceans as oil and fuel from land based sources 32 It is estimated that runoff oil and oil from rivers are responsible for 11 of oil pollution to the oceans 36 Such pollution can also be oil on roads from land vehicles which is then flushed into the oceans during rainstorms 35 Purely land based oil spills are different from maritime oil spills in that oil on land does not spread as quickly as in water and effects thus remain local 32 Cleanup and recoveryedit nbsp A U S Air Force Reserve plane sprays Corexit dispersant over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico nbsp Clean up efforts after the Exxon Valdez oil spill nbsp A US Navy oil spill response team drills with a Harbour Buster high speed oil containment system Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors including the type of oil spilled the temperature of the water affecting evaporation and biodegradation and the types of shorelines and beaches involved 1 Physical cleanups of oil spills are also very expensive Until the 1960s the best method for remediation consisted of putting straw on the spill and retrieving the oil soaked straw manually 43 Chemical remediation is the norm as of the early 21st century using compounds that can herd and thicken oil for physical recovery disperse oil in the water or facilitate burning the oil off 43 The future of oil cleanup technology is likely the use of microorganisms such as Fusobacteriota formerly Fusobacteria species demonstrate potential for future oil spill cleanup because of their ability to colonize and degrade oil slicks on the sea surface 43 44 There are three kinds of oil consuming bacteria Sulfate reducing bacteria SRB and acid producing bacteria are anaerobic while general aerobic bacteria GAB are aerobic These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain The chemicals from the oil which dissolve in water and hence are available to bacteria are those in the water associated fraction of the oil See also Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge Methods for cleaning up include 45 Bioremediation use of microorganisms 46 or biological agents 47 to break down or remove oil such as Alcanivorax bacteria 48 or Methylocella silvestris 49 Bioremediation Accelerator a binder molecule that moves hydrocarbons out of water and into gels when combined with nutrients encourages natural bioremediation Oleophilic hydrophobic chemical containing no bacteria which chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons The accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface floating molecules such as phenol and BTEX to the surface of the water forming gel like agglomerations Undetectable levels of hydrocarbons can be obtained in produced water and manageable water columns By overspraying sheen with bioremediation accelerator sheen is eliminated within minutes Whether applied on land or on water the nutrient rich emulsion creates a bloom of local indigenous pre existing hydrocarbon consuming bacteria Those specific bacteria break down the hydrocarbons into water and carbon dioxide with EPA tests showing 98 of alkanes biodegraded in 28 days and aromatics being biodegraded 200 times faster than in nature they also sometimes use the hydrofireboom to clean the oil up by taking it away from most of the oil and burning it 50 Controlled burning can effectively reduce the amount of oil in water if done properly 51 But it can only be done in low wind 52 and can cause air pollution 53 nbsp Oil slicks on Lake Maracaibo nbsp Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill Dispersants can be used to dissipate oil slicks 54 A dispersant is either a non surface active polymer or a surface active substance added to a suspension usually a colloid to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping They may rapidly disperse large amounts of certain oil types from the sea surface by transferring it into the water column They will cause the oil slick to break up and form water soluble micelles that are rapidly diluted The oil is then effectively spread throughout a larger volume of water than the surface from where the oil was dispersed They can also delay the formation of persistent oil in water emulsions However laboratory experiments showed that dispersants increased toxic hydrocarbon levels in fish by a factor of up to 100 and may kill fish eggs 55 Dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate coral Research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals 56 A 2012 study found that Corexit dispersant had increased the toxicity of oil by up to 52 times 57 In 2019 the U S National Academies released a report analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of several response methods and tools 58 Watch and wait in some cases natural attenuation of oil may be most appropriate due to the invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation particularly in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands 59 Dredging for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water Skimming Requires calm waters at all times during the process Solidifying Solidifiers are composed of tiny floating dry ice pellets 60 61 62 and hydrophobic polymers that both adsorb and absorb They clean up oil spills by changing the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a solid semi solid or a rubber like material that floats on water 13 Solidifiers are insoluble in water therefore the removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out Solidifiers have been proven to be relatively non toxic to aquatic and wildlife and have been proven to suppress harmful vapors commonly associated with hydrocarbons such as benzene xylene and naphtha The reaction time for solidification of oil is controlled by the surface area or size of the polymer or dry pellets as well as the viscosity and thickness of the oil layer Some solidifier product manufacturers claim the solidified oil can be thawed and used if frozen with dry ice or disposed of in landfills recycled as an additive in asphalt or rubber products or burned as a low ash fuel A solidifier called C I Agent manufactured by C I Agent Solutions of Louisville Kentucky is being used by BP in granular form as well as in Marine and Sheen Booms at Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan Alabama to aid in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup Vacuum and centrifuge oil can be sucked up along with the water and then a centrifuge can be used to separate the oil from the water allowing a tanker to be filled with near pure oil Usually the water is returned to the sea making the process more efficient but allowing small amounts of oil to go back as well This issue has hampered the use of centrifuges due to a United States regulation limiting the amount of oil in water returned to the sea 63 Beach Raking coagulated oil that is left on the beach can be picked up by machinery nbsp Bags of oily waste from the Exxon Valdez oil spill Equipment used includes 51 Booms large floating barriers that round up oil and lift the oil off the water Skimmers skim the oil Sorbents large absorbents that absorb oil and adsorb small droplets 64 Chemical and biological agents helps to break down the oil Vacuums remove oil from beaches and water surface Shovels and other road equipment typically used to clean up oil on beaches Preventionedit Further information Offshore oil spill prevention and response Secondary containment methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into the environment Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures SPCC program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Double hulling build double hulls into vessels which reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding Existing single hull vessels can also be rebuilt to have a double hull Thick hulled railroad transport tanks 65 Spill response procedures should include elements such as A listing of appropriate protective clothing safety equipment and cleanup materials required for spill cleanup gloves respirators etc and an explanation of their proper use Appropriate evacuation zones and procedures Availability of fire suppression equipment Disposal containers for spill cleanup materials and The first aid procedures that might be required 66 Researchedit Adaptation of the oil bee s e g Macropis fulvipes mechanism for harvesting flower oils has led to the biomimetic development of an additional oil spill recovery method Oil bees have oleophilic properties in their hair like protrusions that collect and store oil This technique has been applied to textiles that can be used to remove oil from sea water 67 Environmental Sensitivity Index ESI mappingeditEnvironmental Sensitivity Indexes ESI are tools used to create Environmental Sensitivity Maps ESM ESM s are pre planning tools used to identify sensitive areas and resources prior to an oil spill event in order to set priorities for protection and plan clean up strategies 68 69 It is to date the most commonly used mapping tool for sensitive area plotting 70 The ESI has three components A shoreline type ranking system a biological resources section and a human use resource category 71 History and developmentedit ESI is the most frequently used sensitivity mapping tool yet It was first applied in 1979 in response to an oil spill near Texas in the Gulf of Mexico 70 To this time ESI maps were prepared merely days in advance of one s arrival to an oil spill location ESMs used to be atlases maps consisting of thousands of pages that could solely work with spills in the oceans In the past 3 decades this product has been transformed into a versatile online tool This conversion allows sensitivity indexing to become more adaptable and in 1995 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA worked on the tool allowing ESI to extended maps to lakes rivers and estuary shoreline types 71 ESI maps have since become integral to collecting synthesizing and producing data which have previously never been accessible in digital formats Especially in the United States the tool has made impressive advancements in developing tidal bay protection strategies collecting seasonal information and generally in the modelling of sensitive areas 70 Together with Geographic Information System Mapping GIS ESI integrates their techniques to successfully geographically reference the three different types of resources 72 Usage and applicationedit The ESI depicts environmental stability coastal resilience to maritime related catastrophes and the configurations of a stress response relationship between all things maritime 73 Created for ecological related decision making ESMs can accurately identify sensitive areas and habitats clean up responses response measures and monitoring strategies for oil spills 74 The maps allow experts from varying fields to come together and work efficiently during fast paced response operations The process of making an ESI atlas involves GIS technology The steps involve first zoning the area that is to be mapped and secondly a meeting with local and regional experts on the area and its resources 75 Following all the shoreline types biological and human use resources need to be identified and their locations pinpointed Once all this information is gathered it then becomes digitized In its digital format classifications are set in place tables are produced and local experts refine the product before it gets released ESI s current most common use is within contingency planning After the maps are calculated and produced the most sensitive areas get picked out and authenticated These areas then go through a scrutinization process throughout which methods of protection and resource assessments are obtained 75 This in depth research is then put back into the ESMs to develop their accuracy and allowing for tactical information to be stored in them as well The finished maps are then used for drills and trainings for clean up efficiency 75 Trainings also often help to update the maps and tweak certain flaws that might have occurred in the previous steps ESI Categoriesedit Shoreline typeedit Shoreline type is classified by rank depending on how easy the target site would be to clean up how long the oil would persist and how sensitive the shoreline is 76 The ranking system works on a 10 point scale where the higher the rank the more sensitive a habitat or shore is The coding system usually works in colour where warm colours are used for the increasingly sensitive types and cooler colours are used for robust shores 75 For each navigable body of water there is a feature classifying its sensitivity to oil Shoreline type mapping codes a large range of ecological settings including estuarine lacustrine and riverine environments 70 Floating oil slicks put the shoreline at particular risk when they eventually come ashore covering the substrate with oil The differing substrates between shoreline types vary in their response to oiling and influence the type of cleanup that will be required to effectively decontaminate the shoreline Hence ESI shoreline ranking helps committees identify which clean up techniques are approved or detrimental the natural environment The exposure the shoreline has to wave energy and tides substrate type and slope of the shoreline are also taken into account in addition to biological productivity and sensitivity 77 Mangroves and marshes tend to have higher ESI rankings due to the potentially long lasting and damaging effects of both oil contamination and cleanup actions Impermeable and exposed surfaces with high wave action are ranked lower due to the reflecting waves keeping oil from coming onshore and the speed at which natural processes will remove the oil Biological resourcesedit Within the biological resources the ESI maps protected areas as well as those with bio diverse importance These are usually identified through the UNEP WCMC Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool There are varying types of coastal habitats and ecosystems and thus also many endangered species that need to be considered when looking at affected areas post oil spills The habitats of plants and animals that may be at risk from oil spills are referred to as elements and are divided by functional group Further classification divides each element into species groups with similar life histories and behaviors relative to their vulnerability to oil spills There are eight element groups birds reptiles amphibians fish invertebrates habitats and plants wetlands and marine mammals and terrestrial mammals Element groups are further divided into sub groups for example the marine mammals element group is divided into dolphins manatees pinnipeds seals sea lions amp walruses polar bears sea otters and whales 71 77 Necessary when ranking and selecting species is their vulnerability to the oil spills themselves This not only includes their reactions to such events but also their fragility the scale of large clusters of animals whether special life stages occur ashore and whether any present species is threatened endangered or rare 78 The way in which the biological resources are mapped is through symbols representing the species and polygons and lines to map out the special extent of the species 79 The symbols also have the ability to identify the most vulnerable of a species life stages such as the molting nesting hatching or migration patterns This allows for more accurate response plans during those given periods There is also a division for sub tidal habitats which are equally important to coastal biodiversity including kelp coral reefs and sea beds which are not commonly mapped within the shoreline ESI type 79 Human use resourcesedit Human use resources are also often referred to as socio economic features which map inanimate resources that have the potential to be directly impacted by oil pollution Human use resources that are mapped within the ESI will have socio economic repercussions to an oil spill These resources are divided into four major classifications archaeological importance or cultural resource site high use recreational areas or shoreline access points important protected management areas and resource origins 71 78 Some examples include airports diving sites popular beach sites marinas hotels factories natural reserves or marine sanctuaries When mapped the human use resources the need protecting must be certified by a local or regional policy maker 75 These resources are often extremely vulnerable to seasonal changes due to ex fishing and tourism For this category there are also a set of symbols available to demonstrate their importance on ESMs Estimating the volume of a spilleditBy observing the thickness of the film of oil and its appearance on the surface of the water it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled If the surface area of the spill is also known the total volume of the oil can be calculated 80 Film thickness Quantity spread Appearance inches mm nm gal sq mi L ha Barely visible 0 0000015 0 0000380 38 25 0 370 Silvery sheen 0 0000030 0 0000760 76 50 0 730 First trace of color 0 0000060 0 0001500 150 100 1 500 Bright bands of color 0 0000120 0 0003000 300 200 2 900 Colors begin to dull 0 0000400 0 0010000 1000 666 9 700 Colors are much darker 0 0000800 0 0020000 2000 1332 19 500 Oil spill model systems are used by industry and government to assist in planning and emergency decision making Of critical importance for the skill of the oil spill model prediction is the adequate description of the wind and current fields There is a worldwide oil spill modelling WOSM program 81 Tracking the scope of an oil spill may also involve verifying that hydrocarbons collected during an ongoing spill are derived from the active spill or some other source This can involve sophisticated analytical chemistry focused on finger printing an oil source based on the complex mixture of substances present Largely these will be various hydrocarbons among the most useful being polyaromatic hydrocarbons In addition both oxygen and nitrogen heterocyclic hydrocarbons such as parent and alkyl homologues of carbazole quinoline and pyridine are present in many crude oils As a result these compounds have great potential to supplement the existing suite of hydrocarbons targets to fine tune source tracking of petroleum spills Such analysis can also be used to follow weathering and degradation of crude spills 82 Largest oil spillseditMain article List of oil spills Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged vulnerable ecosystems in Alaska the Gulf of Mexico the Galapagos Islands France the Sundarbans and many other places The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons e g Deepwater Horizon oil spill Atlantic Empress Amoco Cadiz 83 but volume is a limited measure of damage or impact Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill because of the remoteness of the site or the difficulty of an emergency environmental response 84 Oil spills in the Niger Delta are among the worst on the planet and is often used as an example of ecocide 85 86 87 88 89 Between 1970 and 2000 there were over 7 000 spills Between 1956 and 2006 up to 1 5 million tons of oil were spilled in the Niger Delta 89 Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil citation needed These can kill seabirds mammals shellfish and other organisms they coat Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes and land animals can avoid the oil more easily citation needed Largest oil spills Spill Tanker Location Date Tonnes of crude oil thousands a Barrels thousands US Gallons thousands References Kuwaiti Oil Fires b Kuwait January 16 1991 November 6 1991 136 000 1 000 000 42 000 000 90 91 Kuwaiti Oil Lakes c Kuwait January 1991 November 1991 3 409 6 818 25 000 50 000 1 050 000 2 100 000 92 93 94 Lakeview Gusher Kern County California USA March 14 1910 September 1911 1 200 9 000 378 000 95 Gulf War oil spill d Kuwait Iraq and the Persian Gulf January 19 1991 January 28 1991 818 1 091 6 000 8 000 252 000 336 000 93 97 98 Deepwater Horizon United States Gulf of Mexico April 20 2010 July 15 2010 560 585 4 100 4 900 189 000 231 000 99 100 101 102 103 Ixtoc I Mexico Gulf of Mexico June 3 1979 March 23 1980 454 480 3 329 3 520 139 818 147 840 104 105 106 Atlantic Empress Aegean Captain Trinidad and Tobago July 19 1979 287 2 105 88 396 107 108 109 Fergana Valley Uzbekistan March 2 1992 285 2 090 87 780 110 Nowruz Field Platform Iran Persian Gulf February 4 1983 260 1 900 80 000 111 ABT Summer Angola 700 nmi 1 300 km 810 mi offshore May 28 1991 260 1 907 80 080 107 Castillo de Bellver South Africa Saldanha Bay August 6 1983 252 1 848 77 616 107 Amoco Cadiz France Brittany March 16 1978 223 1 635 68 684 107 110 112 113 Taylor Energy United States Gulf of Mexico September 23 2004 Present 210 490 1 500 3 500 63 000 147 000 114 Odyssey off the coast of Nova Scotia Canada November 10 1988 132 968 40 704 115 Torrey Canyon England Cornwall March 18 1967 119 872 36 635 116 One metric ton tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons or 7 33 barrels approx 1 oil barrel bbl is equal to 35 imperial or 42 US gallons Approximate conversion factors Archived 2014 06 21 at the Wayback Machine Estimates for the amount of oil burned in the Kuwaiti Oil Fires range from 500 000 000 barrels 79 000 000 m3 to nearly 2 000 000 000 barrels 320 000 000 m3 Between 605 and 732 wells were set ablaze while many others were severely damaged and gushed uncontrolled for several months It took over ten months to bring all of the wells under control The fires alone were estimated to consume approximately 6 000 000 barrels 950 000 m3 of oil per day at their peak Oil spilled from sabotaged fields in Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War pooled in approximately 300 oil lakes estimated by the Kuwaiti Oil Minister to contain approximately 25 000 000 to 50 000 000 barrels 7 900 000 m3 of oil According to the U S Geological Survey this figure does not include the amount of oil absorbed by the ground forming a layer of tarcrete over approximately five percent of the surface of Kuwait fifty times the area occupied by the oil lakes 92 Estimates for the Gulf War oil spill range from 4 000 000 to 11 000 000 barrels 1 700 000 m3 The figure of 6 000 000 to 8 000 000 barrels 1 300 000 m3 is the range adopted by the U S Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations in the immediate aftermath of the war 1991 1993 and is still current as cited by NOAA and The New York Times in 2010 96 This amount only includes oil discharged directly into the Persian Gulf by the retreating Iraqi forces from January 19 to 28 1991 However according to the U N report oil from other sources not included in the official estimates continued to pour into the Persian Gulf through June 1991 The amount of this oil was estimated to be at least several hundred thousand barrels and may have factored into the estimates above 8 000 000 barrels 1 300 000 m3 The economic impact of oil spillseditOil spills can have devastating environmental impacts however they often have equally detrimental economic consequences 117 These disasters do not only pose immediate threats to marine ecosystems but also leave lasting impacts on local and regional economies This section will explore the multifaceted economic repercussions of oil spills specifically considering the decline in tourism the reduction in fishing and the impact on port activity Decline in tourismedit In the short term an oil spill will prevent tourists from partaking in usual recreational activities such as swimming boating diving and angling 118 As such the area will witness a decline in tourism This will negatively impact several industries Firstly the hotels restaurants and bars in the immediate vicinity will have significantly fewer customers Local car park owners and shopkeepers will be affected too Then this decline in tourists will cause further damage to travel agencies tour guides and transport companies 119 The beaches will likely stay shut for several days whilst clean up operations take place and there may be disruption caused by an increase in clean up vehicles 118 Overall several businesses will be negatively impacted by the spill in the short term which can lead to further long term damage should companies be forced to reduce staff or shut down entirely Often this process is intensified by disproportionate media attention Usually the affected area returns to normal relatively soon after an oil spill as the clean up process is fast 118 However media stories will drive future tourists away as they work to degrade the popular image of a destination with exaggerated stories of oil on beaches and deserted hotels 118 This aggravates the economic losses as people continue to choose to travel elsewhere Such a scenario is particularly damaging for regions which are very reliant on the tourism industry 119 For example the Brazilian Northeast can be very vulnerable to drops in tourism thus they were badly impacted following a 2500 tonne crude oil spill from an unknown tanker in 2019 120 Similarly tourism in Ibiza was severely impacted in 2007 Just 20 tonnes of oil were spilled from the Don Pedro in July 2007 a relatively limited volume compared with other spills Whilst this caused just a small amount of environmental damage the economic damage was disproportionately large Most beaches were reopened within a week just a dozen seabirds were affected and there were no reports of injured sea mammals Nonetheless 27 percent of hotels in Ibiza were negatively affected with two thirds of these being seafront hotels Thus 32 claims were made by tourist firms equating to approximately 1 5 million euros of compensation 121 This provides a clear example of an oil spill resulting in massive economic disaster Furthermore following the world s largest oil spill the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010 122 the U S Travel Association estimated 23 billion dollars worth of associated costs for affected tourist infrastructure 123 Reduction in fishingedit After the Deepwater Horizon crisis 122 the Gulf of Mexico suffered an estimated 1 9 billion dollar loss in revenue from fishing This is because fishing closures were imposed due to fears of the safety of seafood 124 there was also a decline in demand as seafood restaurants and markets suffered such severe losses that many were forced to shut 118 Usually the Gulf sees an average of 106 703 fishing trips per day 125 equating to 1 million metric tonnes of annual fishery landings 126 Therefore the necessary fishing ban following the disaster was highly damaging Similarly following the sinking of the Prestige oil tanker near Galicia Spain in November 2002 77 000 tonnes of crude oil were spilled into the ocean This disaster has had severe economic consequences alongside the environmental damage Large zones were cordoned in which fishing was banned with these bans lasting for more than eight months This affected several groups including fishermen ship owners and the companies who bought and sold the fish Several compensatory actions were introduced including tax benefits and aid This resulted in expenses of approximately 113 million euros in an attempt to compensate for the halt in fishing activity 127 The examples of the Deepwater Horizon and the Prestige clearly illustrate the severe economic consequences when oil spills prevent commercial fishing Water pollution due to oil spills can be severe often resulting in the death or injury of many sea creatures including birds sea mammals fish algae and coral 128 The impact on fish caught in the spill has both immediate and longer term impacts Immediately the fish are tainted with oil and they cannot be used commercially due to safety reasons Then the oil can spread and sink below the water s surface If fish swallow the oil they are also inconsumable due to the health risk posed to humans 128 Therefore massive economic damage is caused to the fishing industry following an oil spill as the stock is vastly reduced Furthermore the oil can cause damage to the equipment and boats of fishermen Clean up operations can also interrupt usual fishing routes and sometimes fishing bans are imposed 119 This further illustrates the damaging economic effects of oil spills on commercial fishing which is particularly detrimental for regions whose economy relies heavily on fishing The impact on port activityedit Ports are major hubs for economic activity thus an oil spill in or near a port can have significant consequences 129 During and following a spill all boats entering or leaving the port must be closely managed in order to prevent further spread Furthermore specialist cleaning contractors must be hired to effectively clean the various port structures 118 Oil spills are relatively regular occurrences in ports as small spills often happen due to the large volume of boats and these are not as well documented in the media as larger events are 130 However these spills must still be dealt with and they can still have damaging economic repercussions 131 Both the incident and the response require expensive and time consuming management which is disruptive to port activity 131 Furthermore special care must be taken during clean up operations to ensure that the oil does not get stuck under the quayside as this could act as a continual source of oil contamination 131 This can also be seen with sea defenses should the oil penetrate deep into the structures they may become a source of secondary pollution 118 Therefore it is crucial for ports to manage and mitigate any oil spills in order to limit the damage to ships and shipping operations Otherwise should large disruption occur the economic damage can be extensive due to costly clean up processes and delayed shipments Summaryedit The economic impact of oil spills on tourism fishing and ports is substantial and important to assess Coordinated efforts are necessary to mitigate these impacts including effective clean up measures public relations campaigns to restore the image of affected areas and support for businesses and communities that must bear the economic downturn See alsoedit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oil spill Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills Environmental issues with petroleum Environmental issues with shipping LNG spill Storm oil Low temperature thermal desorption National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan Ohmsett Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in the US Oil well Penguin sweater Project Deep Spill the first intentional deepwater oil and gas spill Pseudomonas putida used for degrading oil S 200 fertilizer ShoreZone Spill containment TarballReferencesedit a b Lingering Lessons of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Commondreams org 2004 03 22 Archived from the original on June 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2011 Modeling Logistical amp Economical Impact of Oil Spill on the Gulf Coast Proceedings of the 2011 Industrial Engineering Research Conference Further readingeditNelson Smith Oil Pollution and Marine Ecology Elek Scientific London 1972 Plenum New York 1973 Oil Spill Case Histories 1967 1991 NOAA Hazardous Materials and Response Division Seattle WA 1992 Ramseur Jonathan L Oil Spills Background and Governance Congressional Research Service Washington DC September 15 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oil spill amp oldid 1276067505
