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POLLUTION BY OIL INDUSTRY

Oil pollution is caused by accidental or


deliberate release into the environment,
causing adverse effects on humans or the
environment, directly or indirectly.
Pollution involves all operations related to
the exploitation and transportation of
hydrocarbons, which will inevitably lead to
gradual deterioration of the environment.
Directly it affects the soil, water, air, fauna
and flora.
Effects on soil: the areas occupied by wells, batteries, maneuver beaches,
pools purge, pipelines and road network undertake a large area of land that
is degraded.
This is due to terrain and smoothing weeding and displacement and heavy
equipment operation. On the other hand oil spills and waste produce an
alteration of the original substrate in which plants leaving unusable soil for
years implanted.
Effects on Water: surface water discharge of oil or other debris causes
decreased oxygen content, aportede solids and organic and inorganic
substances.
In the case of groundwater, further deterioration is manifested in increased
salinity, pollution of the groundwater with water oil production of high salt
content.
Effects on the air: usually, together with the oil produced is natural gas. The
uptake of gas is determined by the gas / oil ratio, if this value is high, the
gas is captured and if it is low, it is vented and / or burned by torches.
Natural gas consists of light hydrocarbons and may contain carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide. If the produced gas containing these
gases burning. If the gas produced is carbon dioxide, it is vented. While
there are regulations, venting and flaring pollute large areas in the direction
of the winds.

Effects on flora and fauna: fixing pasture depends on the presence of shrubs
and bushes, which are most affected by oil pollution. In turn, these thickets
provide shelter and food for wildlife adapted to that environment. Among
the fauna, birds are the most affected by direct contact with contaminated
bodies of water or vegetation, or poisoning by ingestion. The effect on birds
can be lethal.
If the operating area is coastal or offshore oil spill causes irreversible
damage to the marine fauna.
Effects of oil transport: the transport of hydrocarbons is the major accidents
occurred with serious ecological consequences.
It is estimated that around 1500 million tonnes per year are transported
across the seas and in the process of loading and unloading 0.1% of that oil
is lost. It is also common practice for tanker tanks used as ballast seawater
and return contaminated with oil. Other tankers pump oil waste into the sea
as waste. It is estimated that these two forms are thrown into the sea 3.5
million tons of oil. Another form of sea pollution comes from oil drilling oil
and gas in coastal waters and underwater pipeline leaks

One of the last major disasters of the oil industry was the oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico being the worst in US history and much greater than that caused
by the accident involving the tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989, it
dumped more 40 million liters, according to scientists. Despite BP's efforts
to conceal the
consequences, alarming
figures are revealed and
begin to make visible the
scale of the environmental
disaster that has been
caused.
Oil pollution in ocean
waters, causing an
impermeable film that

quickly affects the marine fauna, especially mammals and birds. But also it
prevents gas exchange and the passage of sunlight, phytoplankton
elements used in photosynthesis.
Environmental degradation has three
negative effects: it is harmful to human
health, reduces economic productivity and
leads to reducing recreational values.
The health of hundreds of people is
threatened by polluted seawater, particles
suspended in the air heavy with smoke in
homes, the productivity of natural resources is lost due to pollution of the
sea and tourist amenities is affected.
Determining environmental priorities inevitably involves choosing between
different alternatives. Priority should be given to finding solutions to health
problems, economic productivity derived from water pollution, poor
sanitation, air pollution and soil degradation, which are causing illness and
death on a scale of magnitude huge.

Risk Factors
So complex operations of oil industry, from the exploratory phase to the
transport phase, the possible occurrence of oil spills become feasible due or:
Accident tanks collision between them.
Breakage by stranding.
Collisions at shipping terminals.
Break pipelines.
Spills from ruptured storage tanks.
Blowout drilling or production wells.

Alternatives
Implement programs that allow:
The gradual and controlled replacement
of harmful techniques used in the oil
industry by new techniques that do not
degrade the environment.
The regulation of land use.

Increase the proliferation of Informal Environmental Education.


Improve existing contingency plans in the industry.
Increase preventive measures one way or another reduce the risk of a
spill.

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