Oil Spill- Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Hello. My name is Morgan Baird and I will be

talking about the 1969 oil spill that happened in Santa

Barbara California.

In regards to what I will be discussing, I will

first start off with the purpose and objective of this

presentation. I will then go over which regions were most

impacted by the spill, the environmental impacts, economic impacts, and

then end with summarizing the event.

The purpose and objectives of this Presentation is to provide

contacts for the 1969 oil spill as well as demonstrate

the impact of the event on the environmental and economic

level and discuss implications of exposures to widespread oil spills.

So what is the 1969 oil spill?

Well on January 28 1969 platform a off the coast

of Santa Barbara California burst.

This platform was owned by a petroleum company called Union

oil. When this first thick black oil and gas is

rose to the surface of the ocean of the ocean

and It was estimated that 80,200,000 barrels of oil spilled

into the ocean and onto the Santa Barbara Coastline.

This is equivalent to four million gallons of oil um

as one barrels equivalent, 42 gallons at the time.

This was the largest oil spill in U.

S. Waters and it caused large consequences in regards to

environmental and economic effects.

The regions that were most impacted by the oil spill

were along the coast of California, specifically around santa barbara,

as well as ventura.

The yellow star on the map is where the original

spill took place on platform A but the oil spread

along the coast, both north and south for many miles,

the different colours of lines represent the dosage of crude

oil spilled in metric tons and because of the wind

patterns, the oil was scattered along the coast and was

particularly heavy around the city of ventura, as well as

many miles out near santa rosa Island.

When looking at the environmental impacts of this event, we

can see that there are immediate effects on the environment,

including animals and plants.

According to a study by Western Oil and Gas Association,

it is thought that there are minimal long term environmental

effects from this spill.

However, there were dramatic short term effects with the presence

of crude oil in the oceans and along the shores.

Hundreds of organisms were drenched in thick black crude oil,

causing illness and death.

Figure three shows that this was not just a one

day. One time spillage, the oil continued to spill out

into the ocean for many months after the original burst.

For the first few days of the spill, it is

estimated that about 5000 barrels of oil were spilled into

the ocean Every single day.

By March three, the spillage slowed down to about 30

bales barrels per day, and then eventually 5-10 barrels per

day for the following 2-3 months.

Although the spillage had decreased dramatically, it was still an

environmental problem for many months following and continue to affect.

Wildlife. Data was collected in regards to different plant and

animal species affected by the oil.

The dates that were observed to be covered in oil

were collected throughout the weeks following the event, the amount

of oil, the dates that they perceived to be dead

and the population mortality rate At least 3,686 birds died,

but those were only the ones that were counted as

well as numerous marine animals, including sea lions and elephant

seals. Fish populations were also greatly affected as well as

marine organisms.

The most prominent organism killed in large quantities from the

oil spill were organisms such as sea barnacles, where 80

to 90 of see barnicle populations were killed from this

event. Besides the organisms that were counted, hundreds of other

organisms that were not seen were also affected by the

oil. Economic effects were most severe in the year 1969,

right after the event took place, commercial fishing was suspended,

affecting ocean related industries and tourism also dropped significantly, causing

owners of hotels, beachfront homes and other facilities to go

into debt.

Government and private individuals ended up filing lawsuits up to

$11 million oil for all the damages.

The ocean-related industries took the greatest financial burden after the

oil spill.

The county of Santa Barbara ended up settling for $9.5

million, including individual industries within the city.

The majority of money received from lawsuits were given to

the city of Santa Barbara as a whole, and then

the hotel owners that suffered a severe decrease in customers,

which was about 19 of the interest received results of

this particular marine oil spill had many environmental and economic

factors, as well as policy changes in regards to the

oil business.

Many regions and miles of waters and shores were impacted

not just santa barbara, and this was because of the

wind and ocean patterns, and there are large implications of

oil spills, not only humans, but animals as well.

It may take months if not years to completely get

rid of the oil, depending on the spill sized.

So oil spills are a very costly and serious matter

when they do happen.

Oil Spill- Santa Barbara, CA, USA

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