Title: Oil Spill Effects | Environmental Pollution Centers
Headings: Environmental Effects of Oil Spill
Environmental Effects of Oil Spill
Content: Usually, the oil spills occurring in a water environment (e.g., ocean or seas, or leaks from rigs ending up in water) are rapidly degraded as compared to oil spills on land or in the subsurface environment. However, if an aquatic oil spill is substantial enough (such as in the case of Exxon Valdez 1989 spill or the April 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico from offshore drilling) then the effects on marine life, birds, humans and ecosystems (including marshes and wetlands, as well as shorelines or gulf coasts) could be serious. In order to understand the type and magnitude of oil spill effects, we need to first understand the fate and transport of spilled oil. The general fate and transport of spilled oil dictates its environmental effects and mainly involves: the ability of oil to accumulate on top of water bodies forming oil slicks or non-aqueous phase liquids which are generally more resistant to degradation and natural attenuation than the dissolved compounds. From such oil slicks evaporation of many volatile components of oil spill is the dominant process when the oil slick is in contact with air, such as in marine spills
the dissolution of certain more soluble oil compounds happens in time along with some dispersion, diffusion, and advection
while the mechanisms (from above) contribute to the reduction of the oil spill and an increased efficiency of the oil spill cleanup, they also increase the mobility of oil resulting in potential spreading of the oil spill over large areas. These complicate Coast Guard cleanup measures taken in the case of marine spills, for example. the persistence of many individual oil components makes them accumulate in the environment and living organisms. The oil resulted from oil spills is transported throughout the environment in various forms, and has various characteristics that influence its effects over the environmental elements. Some of the main characteristics of the oil are briefly presented in the table below: