How To Clean Up BP Oil Spill


What People Say

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A big percentage of oil companies transport their product by means of tanks that travel by sea. However, supertankers aren't just the cause of these oil spills. There are basically underwater pipelines, coastal storage facilities and offshore oil drilling rigs that have possible risks of releasing oil into the sea. A number of oil spill accidents like the Exxon Valdez oil spill catastrophe shocked us and opened our eyes to the danger it would cause, to us, to marine life and to the wildlife in general. Now we have been bombarded of yet again another oil spill catastrophe, this time with oil giant, British Petroleum (BP). With so many oil spill accidents that have had happened in the past and at present, people wonder how oil spills are being cleaned up. Here are some steps/methods that experts do to resolve or to lessen the problem of oil spills.

How To / Instruction

Difficulty: Normal

  • Step

    1

    If the clean up crew could get to the spill in a matter of 1 to 2 hours they use the containment and skimming method of cleaning up the oil spill. To do this they use long poles that float on the water to surround and gather the oil and then use boats that will suck up or scoop the trapped oil from the water and into the containment tanks.

  • Step

    2

    Clean up crew normally use sorbents. They are big sponges that absorb the oil from the water.

  • Step

    3

    Cleanup crews may use the method which they call situ burning. However this method is not always being utilized since using this method produces toxic smoke that are hazardous to people's health and could greatly affect wildlife.

  • Step

    4

    According to news that has been circulating in the Internet, BP is trying to use an untested method in their aim to clean up and control their own oil spill. They are lowering a containment box to seal the leak and in hopes that it can hold the leaks as they pump out the oil. Though considering the depth of the water where the spill took place and since this method wasn't tested in such depths where pressures are great, experts say that it may be a disaster method after all.

  • Step

    5

    When the spill is no threat to people and to the wildlife, experts tend to leave the oil spill and let the natural process handle the problem with the help of the sun. Like water, oil eventually evaporates since it normally floats on water.

  • Step

    6

    Clean up crews also use dispersants especially in tropical areas. The said chemical breaks down oil to oil droplets thus making the droplets get mixed and be absorbed by water faster.

Tips and Warnings

  • Since oil spills are hazardous to people and the wildlife and is really messy to deal with experts advice to use methods that are proven to work and as much as possible to utilize safest methods.

  • The best tip for cleaning up an oil spill is to get to the problem fast to suppress the oil from getting even more spread out. If this happens it would be more easier to manipulate and to suck up the spilled oil.

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