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BPWHAT HAVE YOU DONE? DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8 Slide 9 Slide 10 Slide 11 Timeline Deepwater Horizon floating rig exploratory drilling 50 miles southeast of Venice water nearly 1 mile deep only 40-50 rigs in Gulf drilling this deep April 20, 2010 explosion methane gas April 22, 2010 rig topples, oil begins to leak from well in sea floor Blow-out preventer failed Three leaks, one has been sealed Slide 12 Current situation As of ???????????? gallons of oil have been released into the gulf. Exxon Valdez in 1989 was 11 million gallons Attempted to place large funnel over leak on Saturday 5/8 Gas-water crystals clogged Mitigation: booms, skimming, burning, dispersants (bad weather disrupts) Oil started showing up on shore over the weekend Slide 13 Slide 14 What next for BP? As of July 15 the leak has been capped. Future ???????? $$$$$$ Slide 15 BIODEGRADATION OF OIL BY BACTERIA Slide 16 BACTERIA AND MICROBES ARE THE ONLY THINGS THAT WILL ULTIMATELY CLEAN UP (NOT JUST MOVE AROUND) THE ONGOING OIL SPILL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO Slide 17 There are billions of hydrocarbon chewing microbes Slide 18 BACTERIA ARE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR OWN SURFACTANT ( reduces surface tension) Slide 19 Dispersants Separates the oil into smaller droplets Dispersed throughout the water column Prevent surface slick affects beaches, marshes, animals immediate damage Does not destroy or eliminate oil dilutes and alters until natural degradation Where does it go? complex currents, water vs sediment What does it do? food chain, toxicity