Environmental Impact of Industrial Disasters

Topic 

Environmental Impact of Industrial Disasters

Instructions 

Industrialization is an important part of how we use resources to support how we live. Industrial accidents often affect people, wildlife, vegetation, air, and water around us. Chemistry is part of the events involved in many of the accidents. This assign will help you learn how to assess environmental mishap and weight the costs and benefits to humanity.

  1. Watch a YouTube or other internet source documentary of greater than 15 minutes on an industrial catastrophe that affected the environment (water, air, people, animals, plants, etc.) in an adverse way AFTER 2007. Give the title and full source. – 2 points (no title page needed)
  2. Write a 1-1 ½ pages maximum with two references/citations. – 2 points
  3. Include the following in the paper:
  4. Brief introduction – 2 points
  5. Body 2-3 paragraphs discussion on the problem, science, environmental impact, and the solution – 15 points
  6. Conclusion – How you felt and why; what could have been done better – 4 points

Answer Preview 

The spill opens up with a loud explosion, which is then followed by responses by people making calls to 911 to report the explosion. The explosion occurs on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig located at the coast of Louisiana, 41 miles inwards to the sea. The oil rig was a leased property of BP but it was owned by Transocean, an offshore oil drilling company. The oil well was located at 1.5 kilometers below the water and it was aproximately18, 000 feet long and it extended all the way into the rock. The oil company BP had apparently sealed off the oil well for later use, but it appears that the seal was not strong enough which was why the concrete was unable to withstand the gas pressure, and it blasted through the concrete. The core fractured, releasing the natural gas which rose through the Deepwater rig’s riser to the surface and immediately caught fire.

The rig then capsized, leading to a trail of even worse disasters. The sunken rig opened up the riser which was housing the drilling mud. The mud had been injected into the riser to create a counter pressure effect on the oil and natural gas pressures. This caused oil to discharge due to lack of opposing force, causing the worst oil spills of the century. The company estimated that oil spilt in about 1000 barrels per day.

Word Count: 650