User:Olais loibooki/sandbox

Environmental effects of oil spills in Newfoundland

The island of Newfoundland is located at the easternmost edge of North America and lies near major shipping routes with Europe, many of which converge off Cape Race, the south-eastern tip of the island and near active offshore oil production platforms:Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose.: All three are located in the Jeanne D‘Arc Basin of the Grand Banks, approximately 300 kilometres east of St. John‘s. In late 2009, the cumulative production for the projects surpassed 1 billion barrels, representing a significant milestone for the Province since the beginning of production. The production for 2009 from each platform was 45.9, 29.0 and 22.8 million barrels for Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose, respectively. This accounts for a total of 97.7 million barrels produced in 2009.

Sources of oil spills

An oil spill is defined as a release of a liquid hydrocarbon petroleum into the environment, mainly in water bodies such as oceans, resulting in pollution of the environment. The two main sources of oil spills in the ocean are the releases from ships and from oil platforms involved in exploration or production of oil and gas.

The south coast of Newfoundland (Canada) includes both open sea and semi-enclosed waterways which collectively account for over 20,000 vessels passing through each year. This traffic poses the risk of an oil spill, either through major accidents or by chronic spills during regular operations of ships, both legal and illegal, like flushing of oily bilge water. The other main source of oil spills is offshore oil and gas exploration and production and from the ships collecting the oil and supporting the offshore oil production. thumb|Sea rose(Husky energy Sea Rose) Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore industry has experienced numerous oil spills. The largest spill to date happened on 22 November 2018, Husky Energy Sea Rose FPSO (Floating production storage and offloading platform), 350 km off of the coast of the Newfoundland shore, is experienced 80km/hr winds and Severe 8.5m metre(28 ft) waves, which contributed to a major leak in its subflow line, releasing 250,000 litres of crude into the sea. Another major spill occurred on 21 November 2004 when mechanical failures caused 1,000 barrels of crude oil (165,000 litres) to flow into the ocean from Petro Canada's Terra Nova FPSO. Although spills of these volumes are rare, smaller spills have occurred at three of the province's active oilfields in recent years. Husky Energy, for example, reported 30 barrels of crude oil (4,470 litres) spilled into the ocean from the White Rose FPSO on 9 September 2008, while 300 litres of crude oil spilled from the Hibernia platform on 29 January 2006.

Environmental effects

Oil spills have potentially catastrophic effects to environment and economy . There are many impacts on mairne organisms. Oil spills penetrate into the structure of plumage of birds and fur of mammals, reducing their insulating ability, making the affected animals more vulnerable to low temperatures and less buoyant in water. Oil can also poison the animals, either when ingested, particularly if mistaken for food, or absorbed through skin. Fish and crustaceans are also at risk from oil spills. Oil is most harmful to fish in their egg, larval, and juvenile stages, and may affect species of commercial value. In addition, oil pollution can undercut commercial fisheries by hurting the reputation of local fish products on the international markets.

Oiled bird (Black Sea oil spill)

Large drilling platforms on the Grand Banks emit climate-altering greenhouse gases, encroach on wildlife habitat, alter the migratory patterns of some seabirds, and increase bird mortality rates. As different types of machinery drill the ocean floor to reach petroleum deposits, they produce rock cuttings that contain oil and other chemicals. Exploring offshore areas for oil also places marine wildlife at risk – loud underwater seismic air- can alter fish and marine mammal behaviour, damage fish physically or influence their physiology.

Seabirds are among the most conspicuous and most affected by oil spills marine organisms, and as such have been used as monitors of the marine environment and, more specifically, and indicator of the incidence of oil pollution. Oil at sea is a threat to seabirds because it forms a thin layer on the ocean surface which is part of bird habitat. The hydrophobic nature of oil causes plumage to readily absorb the oil, which decreases the birds’ insulation, waterproofing and buoyancy, leading to death due to hypothermia or starvation. The many toxic compounds in the oil, when ingested or inhaled, can also lead to incapacitating or fatal effects due to their impact on internal organs.

Oiled birds have been washing up on the island's beaches for years and scientists estimate an average of 300,000 seabirds die each year due to oil pollution off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Most oil that comes into contact with birds is not from the province's oilfields, but rather from large trans-Atlantic tankers and other vessels that use popular international shipping routes located near Newfoundland and on the Grand Banks; these areas provide important habitat for many seabird species vulnerable to oil pollution. In 1994, Environment Canada recognized the south coast of Newfoundland as an extremely high risk zone for seabirds. Diving birds such as auks and sea ducks are among the seabird species most affected by oil spills.

Light attraction by the offshore platforms and ships can be also major source of mortality in marine birds, which are attracted by lights during night or during frequent in this part of the world dense fog.

In fact, the world's largest colony of Leach's Storm Petrels breeds on the northeast Avalon Peninsula, which is within foraging range of the Hibernia platform. This places these nocturnal birds at risk of injury or death, as it is not rare for storm-petrels to fly directly into an oil platform's lights or flare and die from impact or burning. Some varieties of seabirds have also been known to circle oil platforms for days before dying of starvation. Scientists have suggested that oil companies could reduce bird mortality rates by scheduling maintenance-related flare shutdowns around peak bird migrations.

thumb|Hibernia platform(Hibernia platform at Bullbarm) The damage caused to seabirds and the entire marine ecosystem through the along this coast is a significant and continuing problem, and has decreased population growth rates of Thick-billed Murres in the eastern Canadian Arctic. 

Geographically, the most threatened area are the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, a highly productive ocean area, critically important to fisheries and to wildlife, providing excellent year-round feeding habitat for tens of millions of seabirds from many species and marine life. Due to its proximity to the offshore production platforms, and near the heavy ship traffic and continuing illegal flushing of oily bilge water from large container and tanker vessels, these waters and adjacent coast of Newfoundland has been subject to chronic oil pollution at levels among the highest in the world

Clean-up and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, type of shoreline involved, accessibility of affected areas and the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation). Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up. Oil spills are the most visible and feasibly most hazardous of all the environmental risks associated with the offshore oil industry. Oil can enter the ocean from drilling platforms, tankers, or floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs; these are large vessels anchored near the drilling platform which process and store oil until it is shipped to land). Spills may occur as a result of equipment failure, human error, tank ruptures, and tanker accidents. It should also be noted that harsh and often unpredictable weather conditions of the North Atlantic region increases the chance of accidents at sea or during the transfer of oil from FPSOs to shuttle tankers.