CATASTROPHES IN OIL AND
PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
EXXON VALDEX OIL SPILL
HAFIY HANANI BT SARJU
NAZATUL HUSNA BT HAMIDON
NURUL SHAFIQA BT SHAFIE
NURUL IZZATI BT HAIRUDIN
OVERVIEW
On March 23, 1989 at 9:12 p.m. the oil tanker
boat known as the Exxon Valdez was scheduled
to transport over 60 million gallons of oil from
Prince William Sound to Long Beach, California
to be refined over a 5-day time span.
Due to some ice fragments that had broken off
from the Columbia glacier, Capt. John
Hazelwood had decided to take Exxon Valdez
off its normal route to steer clear of the glacier
pieces.
OVERVIEW
During this time of steering off course, John
Hazelwood, decided to leave from the bridge area and
leave the Third mate in charge of the ship.
The ship was on autopilot and through a lot of
unforeseen mistakes and lack of communication at
about 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez ran
across the Bligh Reef.
Within the time span of five hours about 11 million
gallons of oil had spilled from the ruptured hull of the
tanker and into the Prince William Sound
Improper
navigation watch
By the ships captain
Alcohol impairment
Ineffective vessel
traffic system
Inadequate navigation equipment
The oil industry promised, but never
installed, state-of-the-art iceberg
monitoring equipment
Lack of effective
pilot and escort
service
The radar was not working since the time
ship left the Valdez Terminal.
Coast Guard tracking ships out to Bligh
Reef had ceased
Fatigue
Excessive workload
Poor maneuvering
POSSIBLE FACTOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
The spills damaging more than 1300
miles of shoreline.
Disrupting lives of people
Altering the physical features of a
beach or shoreline. Hence affects the
recovery of impacted plants or
animals.
EFFECTS OF CLEANING UP PROCESS
The cleaning up procedure is using high
pressure, hot water washing of shoreline
It is the effective way to remove
stranded oil
But this procedure can damage the
plants and animal in the treated zone
and flushed away fine sediments that
can helping to protect clams and
mussels during storm.
EFFECTS ON HABITAT AND ANIMAL
Oil from the spillage is very concentrated.
Therefore, it can poisons animal by internal
and external routes of exposure.
Birds and mammals die because of oil fouls
fur and feather. They can no longer
insulated.
Small organism which is aquatic habitat
can be destroyed by a thick layer of oil.
Example: Pacific Herring,Pigeon Guillemots
EFFECTS ON HABITAT AND ANIMAL
100,000-250,000seabirds
2,800 sea otters
12 river otters
300 harbor seals
247 bald eagles
22 orcas and billions of salmon and
herring eggs
TIMELINE OF ANIMAL RECOVERY
EFFECTS ON HUMAN AND
ECONOMIC
The killing of hundreds of thousands
of marine animals damaged the
fishing industry
The high concentrations of oil affects
the live of aquatic habitats.
The tourism industry, recreation also
affected. The beauty of the place is
no longer attracts people as the
place is all covered with oil.
SOLUTIONS
MECHANICAL TREATMENT (BOOM &
SKIMMER)
Used to slow the spread of oil and
suck up the floating oil on the surface
However, skimmers were not readily
available during the first 24 hours
following the spill. Thick oil and
heavy kelp tended to clog the
equipment. Repairs to damaged
skimmers were time consuming.
SOLUTIONS
HOT WATER AND HIGH PRESSURE
People used fire hoses to spray beaches,
forcing oil to the shore where it was trapped
by layers of boom and removed or absorbed
by special materials.
Hot water was used until it was determined
that hot water cooked small organisms; cold
water was used afterwards.
SOLUTIONS
SOLVENTS AND CHEMICAL CLEANERS
The used of Corexit 958OM2 to remove the oil. Although this
chemical is very effective to clean the oil, but spreading the
chemical substances to the onshore is too risky.
Penetrate oil deeply into beaches, but this oil can remain relatively
fresh for years and can later come back to the surface and affect
nearby animals.
Mixed chemical-oil tend to be hard to collect using skimmers, thus
more chemical being free to the ocean rather than being picked up.
SOLUTIONS
BIOREMEDIATION
Cleanup crews applied fertilizer to
beaches in order to spur growth of
microscopic bacteria to eat the oil.
The technique was successful on
beaches with thin oil cover.
COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: BOOM
Floatation devices , U and J
shaped
To control the spread of
oil
To concentrate the oil
at one place
COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: SKIMMER
Device for collect and remove
oil from the surface of water
Operates like household
vacuum cleaner.
Oil is pumped into
storage tank
COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: SORBENT
Material that soak up oil from
water
Can be use to recover
oil via adsorption or
absorption.
Carbon based product
such as Sawdust ,
corncob and etc
COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
1: DISPERSING AGENT
Also called dispersant,
Surfactants- chemical that break
liquid into small droplets
Prevents oil layer build up
on water.
Applicable at rough and
choppy sea condition.
COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
2: IN-SITU BURNING
Burning the oil where it was
spilled
Contain the oil with fireresistant boom.
Rarely used because of
environmental impact
COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
3: BIOLOGICAL AGENT
Nutrients, enzymes, or
microorganisms- increase
biodegradation rate naturally.
Breakdown complex
compound into simpler
product.
1) Bioremediation ( fertilizer)
2)Biostimulation (P and N )
3)Bioaugmentation
( microorganisms)
REFERENCESS
The Atlantic, (2014). The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: 25 Years Ago Today. [online] Available at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill-25-years-agotoday/100703/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Topics.nytimes.com, (2010).Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989) News - The New York Times.
[online] Available at:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/exxon_valdez_oil_spill_1989/i
ndex.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).Oil and Chemical Spills/Significant Incidents/Exxon
Valdez Oil Spill. [online] Available at: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/exxonvaldez
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).Lessons Learned From the Exxon Valdez Spill |
response.restoration.noaa.gov. [online] Available at:
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significant-incidents/exxonvaldez-oil-spill/lessons-learned-exxon-valdez.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).How Toxic Is Oil? | response.restoration.noaa.gov.
[online] Available at: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significantincidents/exxon-valdez-oil-spill/how-toxic-oil.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Hadhazy, A. (2014).20 Years After the Exxon Valdez: Preventing--and Preparing for--the
Next Oil Spill Disaster [Slide Show]. [online] Scientificamerican.com. Available at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-valdez-20-years-later-oil-spill-prevention/
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