DO NOW 1.Take out your 5 facts so I can check them and then share them with your table. 2.Binder clean out. What to keep: Last night’s HW Any assignments that have been graded but you haven’t confirmed that they are correct on Genesis What to throw away: Everything else

On March 24, 1999, the Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Oil Spill Disaster The spill eventually covered 1,300 miles of coastline and 11,000 square miles of ocean. Up until April, 2010, it was the largest oil spill in history.

Sites containing Exxon Valdez Oil Pollution in 1999

Deepwater Horizon was an offshore drilling rig. In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft. It cost $600M to build.

Earth Day 2010 was NOT such a great day for the earth. Bad News……

The Deepwater Horizon was drilling 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, 2010, when an explosion occurred at 10pm.

The explosion left eleven of the 126 people on board dead.

Flyover of the spill Video Clip

The resulting fire could not be extinguished after 36 hours, and on April 22, 2010, the rig sank. This left the well gushing, causing the largest offshore oil spill in United States history.

Video of sinking

The Coast Guard reports that 42,000 gallons of crude oil is leaking from the well 5000 feet below the surface.

Reports stated that the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico was producing times more oil than previously estimated. Up to 210,000 gallons are being spilled every 24 hours. The oil slick in 5000 square miles by April 28 th.

What’s happening underwater? Video Clip

Oil industry expert Bob Cavnar says, “the real doomsday scenario here is…Basically you’ve got uncontrolled flow. There is nothing they can do except the relief wells.” Expert Opinions on the Damage

What are Relief Wells? It is a secondary well that is used to tame the flow of an oil spill. It is dug at a safe distance from the original drilling site, tapping into the troubled piping and diverting the pressurized liquid.

Finally on July 15 th the leak was stopped.

Estimates of the spill make this the largest oil spill ever in the world, threatening fisheries, tourism, and the habitat of hundreds of bird species. Damage

Oil reaches the shore of Louisiana.

Any fish or whale who had a choice would have moved out of the Gulf years ago. In 2006 there were almost 4,000 oil and natural gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and 34,000 miles of pipeline on the seafloor.

The Gulf of Mexico has seen 267 oil spills since 1960 and Gulf of Mexico

When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf, 7-9 million gallons of oil were spilled. Hurricane Damage

Other Oil Spill Damages A 1979 oil spill in Mexico dumped 140 million gallons of oil into the southern Gulf. A 1979 Texas oil spill lost 10 million gallons. A 1978 Puerto Rico oil spill dumped 10.5 million gallons. In 1986 Campeche, Mexico spilled 10.4 million gallons into the sea.

The wildlife “dead zone” in the center of the Gulf of Mexico is over 7,000-square-miles wide. The “Dead Zone”

What is a “Dead Zone”? An area in oceans or lakes usually where there's not enough oxygen to sustain life. When nutrients enter the water, they create an algae bloom. When the algae sink, bacteria start decomposing them, which uses up the available oxygen causing other organisms to die.

Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone”

Damage from the BP Oil Spill

Since the gulf oil spill disaster began, more than 265 turtles have been found dead! Turtles

Who’s To Blame? Video Clip

Beaches affected by oil spill

This computer image released Thursday, June 3, 2010 by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research shows that oil leaking from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico could wind up on the East Coast and even get carried on currents across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Center for Atmospheric Research models showed Thursday that oil could enter the Gulf's loop current, go around the tip of Florida and as far north as Cape Hatteras, N.C.

June 16, 2010 BP agrees to pay $20B for damages from the spill and $100M for lost wages for oil rig workers left unemployed.

July 27, 2010 BP CEO Tony Hayward resigns.

Trial is scheduled to determine liability and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. Did the companies act with gross negligence and willful misconduct? How much damage was there? How much should they be responsible for? Did they lie about how much oil was being spilled? If they lied, how should they be punished?

Ironic?