The Santa Barbara Blowout was an oil spill that took place in the Santa Barbara Channel in January of 1969 and now ranks as the third largest oil spill to take place in the United States. An estimated 10,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the ocean over several months. The spill severely harmed thousands of sea birds and other forms of marine life in the waters. This was one of the most impactful environmental disasters in American history, as it led to some of the most restrictive regulations on offshore oil drilling that are still in place today.
Union Oil was controlling the oil rig at the time and was responsible for the oil spill. A platform known as Platform A has a well that extends nearly 3500 feet beneath the seafloor and. The
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However, after a few weeks, another leak in the well started; and more oil, mud, and cement spewed into the ocean. The effects of the oil spillage extended from Santa Barbara to as far as San Miguel and Santa Rosa. Birds were largely affected, because the oil on their feathers prevented them from floating properly. The oil also clogged the blowholes of many whales and dolphins, ultimately not allowing them to breathe properly. One of the largest economic consequences was to the fisherman in the Santa Barbara area, who were unable to harvest fish to sell. The Santa Barbara channel was also the home to many endangered species such as grey whales, blue whales, and pelicans. Marine vegetation can also be negatively affected from prolonged oil exposure. Spilled oil on the surface is especially problematic, as it is worsened by the wind and …show more content…
Immediately after the spill, a moratorium was placed on all offshore drilling in California waters. President Nixon, who originally lived near the location of the spill, signed legislation that his own party opposed to prevent accidents like it from occurring again. Some of this legislation also included the observation of the first Earth Day. Currently, California has some of the toughest regulations on offshore drilling in all of the United States. Within a year, Nixon had established the Environmental Protection Agency, the largest government agency for protection of the environment. Union Oil and several other oil companies collectively paid $9 million dollars in a civil suit to the state of California and the city of Santa Barbara. Offshore oil drilling was banned for the next 16 years in
Like what is said above there is a risk for oil to get into the water and there is a lot of concern in the parts of the aquifers that are just below the Sand Hills and certain areas of the aquifer the water is near on at the surface Subpoint: Wildlife— There are two primary types of impacts that occur with a spill of crude oil Physical impacts— soil, sediments, plants, and animals can become coated with oil. When animals are covered in oil they can have difficulty feeding or obtaining oxygen toxicological impacts— crude oil may be toxic when ingested… “ingestion occurs typically when an oiled animal attempts to clean its fur or feathers
The Government published the Clean Air and Water Acts under President Richard Nixon’s administration. The Clean Air Act, in short, endorsed the creation of thorough national and state rules to control emissions from both fixed and mobile sources (Document 2). Signed by Nixon in 1970, the main goal of this act was to ensure that air quality would be healthy and sustainable throughout the United States to furthermore eradicate any immediate sense of pollution and climate change. Just two short years later, Nixon appealed the Clean Water Act of 1972 (Document 4). In summary, this act created the fundamental framework for managing surface water quality quotas and pollution secretion into national water.
According to Rumpler, when the industry claims that, “there has never been a single case of groundwater contamination, they mean there is not a verified instance of the fracking fluid traveling up through a mile of bedrock into the water table.” A Duke University Study linked methane in people's drinking water wells to drilling operations near the wells. The University of Colorado published a study claiming that people “living within a half mile of fracking and other gas-drilling operations have an increased risk of health problems, including cancer from benzene emissions.” There is a need for laws and regulations set in place that limit the locations of fracking sites. They need to be away from the public's drinking water and need to follow strict regulations that ensure no chemicals or substances escape the wells and pipes.
This mistreatment caused the Cuyahoga River to catch on fire and the Santa Barbara oil spill, both occurring in the year 1969. At the time, the Santa Barbara oil spill was the largest in our nation’s history. The powerful images of both the Cuyahoga River on fire and the wildlife and environment in California being ravaged because of the deep-water oil spill helped change Americans’ attitudes toward the environment. This sprung the creation of the Modern Environmentalist
"The Congress, the Administration and the public all share a profound commitment to the rescue of our natural environment, and the preservation of the Earth as a place both habitable by and hospitable to man." (epa.gov) President Richard Nixon delivered this quote in his State of the Union Address of 1970 in order to establish a baseline for environmental protection in the United States. Nixon wished to fix the problems established with the start of the industrial revolution in order to create better environmental conditions for the future. As his first official act of 1970, he signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act which established the Council on Environmental Quality. Though some citizens became concerned with Nixon’s policies,
Texas Oil Boom The Texas oil boom, also known as “The Gusher,” was one of the most exciting moments of the 1900s. According to The History Channel ``One of the negative effects about the oil boom is drilling the oil makes a bad impact on the wildlife around it.” The texas oil boom had a lot of great traits to it, like how taxes from it were going to educate underprivileged kids, but not all traits were great. You see while all the oil was fantastic, drilling it from the earth is very harmful to the wildlife around the sight. The boom made soils erode, contaminated waters and not to mention the visable destruction it did.
The federal government has the choice to to put rules on fracking that can protect our water, air, and land more. Some places are completely off limits to these drilling procedures. Because of the hazards they had found the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was established to help assure that the drinking water was not contaminated and safe to drink. This is not the only act, that has come about since the modern day fracking had began in the 1990’s. Even those in the drilling business acknowledge the lack of control.
The scientific empirical evidence that oil spills are dangerous and a threat to
The oil spill had a loss of habitats and it had an impact of the development of large fish and wild animals. Some similarities they both had people working to fix the damages and bring the communities together. The issue when workers tried to
On March 24, 1989, one of the most detrimental oil spills in Alaskan history occurred. The spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, which was a common area of the coast of Alaska for importing and exporting goods such as oil. A ship named the Exxon Valdez was exporting an estimated 1.2 million barrels to Long Beach, California when it suddenly crashed into the Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef. This caused the ship to come apart and have the oil being carried inside of it to leak into the ocean. An estimated 11 million gallons spilled; luckily, much of the oil evaporated after the spill; however, a large amount of oil still remained in the ocean.
More than 11 million gallons of crude oil ended up in the seas of Prince William Sound, and crude oil contamination has polluted more than 1,300 miles of shoreline. Workers helped in the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill tragedy in Prince William Sound, Alaska. More than 11,000 workers cleaned up the oil spill in Alaska, which cost more than $2 billion. Workers cleaned up at Prince William Sound, Alaska.
1. Introduction In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform spit nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest oil spill in history. The 1989 oil spill surpassed Exxon Valdez's oil spill in 1989 as the largest oil spill ever seen in US-controlled waters and the Ixtoc I oil spill of 1979 as the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater offshore rig, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 riggers and injuring 17 others.
The region became one of the most important sources of oil in the world, with major companies investing billions of dollars in exploration and production. However, this growth was not without its risks. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in history, causing significant environmental damage and highlighting the dangers of deep water drilling. In response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the industry has taken steps to improve safety and environmental protection in the Gulf of Mexico. New regulations and safety standards have been introduced, and companies have invested in new technologies and training to prevent future disasters.
More than 11,000 employees cleaned up the oil spill in Alaska, and the cleanup cost more than $2
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1889 released 26,000 gallons of oil which is a lot less than the oil spill in South Dakota. “The Exxon Valdez oil spill killed somewhere