Deadline: 3/6/15 (rough draft)

Topic:
Oil Spills
● Specifically, the Deep Horizon Oil Spill Parts
● Background
○ Researcher: Jorge G.
○ Writer: Mohamed S.
● Effects on the Ecosystem
○ Researcher: Vincent T.
○ Writer: Nancy N.
● Solution(s)
○ Researcher: George E.
○ Writer: Brett M.
● Economics (clean­up costs, etc..)
○ Researcher: Ricardo T
○ Writer:Daniel Flores
● Community Advocacy (how to avoid it from happening again)
○ Researcher: Zuhayr K.
○ Writer: Valerie U. Possible Solutions this is the video i spoke about today after class involving fungus to clean oil saturated soil
.
http://youtu.be/XI5frPV58tY?t=7m55s Magic Wand that cleans oil spills
:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the­magnetic­wand­that­cleans­oil­spills?utm_source=mbfb

Mohamed Saad/ Jorge Gutierrez
History of Oil spills.

In the early 1900’s, two brothers, Al and Curt Hamill, were hired as oilmen by Anthony

Francis Lucas, a Croatian oil explorer. Anthony Lucas secured investors and leased land from
Pattillo Higgins. Higgins, an oil explorer himself, was unsuccessful finding oil on the leased land and did not have enough money to continue his explorations. With no hesitation, Higgins willingly leased the land to Lucas. With the brother’s steam powered rotary drill, the Hamill brother has had the ability to drill a pipe down with ease compared to the methods of the near past. Before they commenced drilling through the hard turf, the land below the drill was converted to mud. With the help of some water and a herd of cows, the brother’s were able to begin drilling. On January 10, 1901, after two months of continuous failed efforts, the Hamill brothers finally hit natural gas at about 1,200 feet followed by a 150­foot shower of crude oil over their heads. The Spindle­top Geyser is known as the first oil well discovered in the U.S, producing over 80,000 barrels a day of crude oil. By the next year, more than 1,500 oil companies have been charted and oil became the fuel of the 20th century. The United States had more than equaled the oil production of the rest of the world by 1909. Crude oil was huge source of revenue for the U.S. With further technological advancements fueled by oil, the U.S became oil dependent and more drilling followed. The U.S. oil supply was so huge that its growth to the rank of a great power became accelerated.

Although the world has made much great advancement forward due to the use of

petroleum, the safe the practice in collecting it has fallen short. Throughout years of drilling, many oil companies have taken emergency precautions to prevent oil spills, but history has shown that not all companies have been prepared for the unexpected. The Business of Oil was making companies very rich. Negligence took over and in return for that, many nature deaths occurred. On April 20, 2010, the unexpected happened, British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon on

the Gulf of Mexico had caught on fire due to methane gas that had seeped into the oil well and combusted as it reached the oilrig. Before the crew was evacuated off the rig, the Blowout
Preventer (B.O.P) was immediately activated, but the B.O.P failed to shut off the well and the flames on the Deepwater Horizon could not be contained with the ongoing leak of methane gas and oil. After two days of engulfing in flames, the Deepwater Horizon began to sink. The pipe connected to the B.O.P., also known as a riser, had feel down to the seabed and continued to pollute the ocean floor pumping approximately 2.4 million gallons per day according to CNN.
BP had no immediate plan of action after their B.O.P had failed and the race to stop BP’s nightmare has begun. Since the oil slick created by the Deepwater Horizon was the first of its kind, at a depth of
5,000 feet below sea level, BP called CEO of Wild Well Control for help. According to the documentary, Pat