Oil Spills

Although fossil fuels have been used for many years, they have proven to be very destructive to the environment, causing ecological harm and serious health problems for humans, animals, and plants.

Oil and gas spills are serious issues. Around the world, oil and gas spills cause massive amounts of damage to our oceans, rivers, lakes, seas and other waterways destroying fisheries and polluting drinking water.

Drilling for oil and getting it to market takes a heavy toll on the environment and is a daunting task. Even though oil companies invest billions of dollars on safety equipment and training, accidents still happen.

Pipelines, super tanker oil and gas carrying ships, trucks, and other modes of transportation are used to transport oil and gas around the world, and at any given time, there may be a serious incident.

The Exxon Valdez incident is a good example of an environmental catastrophe that was caused when the ship ran aground and millions of gallons of crude oil was spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Alaska.

That part of the Alaskan coastline and it's ecosystem was devastated, killing fish, birds, seals, otters, mussels, crabs, clams, and other land and sea animals.

The cleanup effort took years and millions of dollars and the effects were felt for many years and may still be felt in certain areas.

Other spills have contaminated large areas of land and water and the real damage to the environment may not be felt or understood for many years to come.

Gas and oil that is wasted on land seep back into the ground or is washed into sewer systems, thus traveling downstream to urban areas and to our water supply. This pollution makes the soil and coastal waterways unfit, in many areas, for fish, plants, animals. and humans alike.

In most nations, stricter laws have already been implemented and are being enforced to regulate oil and gas transport, thus limiting the possibility of spills that may damage the environment.

Some scientists and some politicians are voicing their concerns about global warming and environmental pollution, yet, the worlds dependence on oil and gas continues to grow.

Even though there have been a decrease in oil and gas spills, they still happen and it's just a matter of time before another accident like the Exxon Valdez takes place.

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