Since the end of April marine animals and beaches located in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are suffering due to the catastrophic oil spill. An accident took place on the drilling ship, Deepwater Horizon causing a pipe to burst underwater and begin to leak thousands of gallons of oil per day.The exact cause of the accident is still unclear. When speaking with upcoming Red Bank Regional High School freshman, John Smith from Red Bank he shared, “I am not too clear on what the exact cause of the spill was but I believe it was due to poor sealing of the pipe after it had been drilled. The exact cause is still unclear”.
Many questions have risen on who should hold the responsibility for the crisis. When all the companies met to discuss on the issue no one was willing to take up all the blame. BP blamed the contractors and the contractors blamed another and so on. Controversies on who is responsible have risen, “I personally believe that the US government is to blame because later investigations showed that BP was not meeting all of the safety regulations”, shared Smith. The government is responsible for making major oil companies meet safety regulations and in this case that didn’t take place.
Though the problem arose in the Gulf of Mexico, it has already managed to extend. If the spill does not cease, it is predicted to spread so far out that it might reach Florida and the East Coast. The consequences can bring forth drastic effect. The oil spill is already killing numerous animals and it is affecting beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Smith stated, “If the oil spill can’t be fixed, I believe that the results will be disastrous. The oil could possibly spread around the East Coast of the U.S. and maybe even the Atlantic Ocean. This would end up killing many animals and destroying many beaches”.
The government is working hard to find an end to the oil spill. At one point they planned to simply throw explosives down to the pipe and hope that the rubble would block the leak. Many believe this was a useless solution and only wasted time.
However, now they have places what looks like an upside down funnel over the leaking pipe to draw out some of the oil into a pipe that leads it into a boat. “It is leading almost 90% of the oil coming out of the pipe onto the boat above”, said Smith. This method is being used until the relief well being drilled is finished. The relief well is being drilled at an angle near the spot of the leaking pipe. “I believe this is all they can do to solve this problem”, confessed Smith.
The relief well can take up to three months to drill. Nevertheless, the damage caused by the spill is permanent. All of the oil out on the water will never be completely cleaned up.
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