Oil spill
hideAn oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. The oil may be a variety of materials, including crude oil, refined petroleum products (such as gasoline or diesel fuel) or by-products, ships' bunkers, oily refuse or oil mixed in waste. Spills take months or even years to clean up.
Oil is also released into the environment from natural geologic seeps on the sea floor. Most human-made oil pollution comes from land-based activity, but public attention and regulation has tended to focus most sharply on seagoing oil tankers.
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News tagged with oil spills
Tanker spills oil in San Francisco Bay
Oct 30, 2009 |
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A ruptured fuel line on a Panamanian-registered tanker released oil into San Francisco Bay before dawn on Friday, authorities said.
Expedition observes hundreds of marine creatures in oil slick
Oct 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The area affected by the Montara oil spill off the Kimberley coast contains a huge amount of marine life, including some of the most iconic and threatened species in the ocean, according to ...
2002 oil spill caused changes in the cell structure of mussels
Mar 25, 2009 |
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The oil spill from the Prestige petroleum oil tanker in 2002 caused serious damage to the ecosystems in the Bay of Biscay. A PhD thesis at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has studied the consequences of this ...
Arctic governments and industry still unprepared for oil spills 20 years after Exxon Valdez
Mar 19, 2009 |
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Two decades after the Exxon Valdez oil spill devastated a vast stretch of the Alaskan coast, governments and industry in the Arctic would be unable to effectively manage a large oil spill, according to a new report by World ...
Australian oil spill '10 times worse' than thought
Mar 14, 2009 |
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An oil spill polluting popular tourist beaches on Australia's northeast coast is 10 times worse than originally reported, according to the state government.
'Frozen smoke:' The ultimate sponge for cleaning up oil spills
Feb 16, 2009 |
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Scientists in Arizona and New Jersey are reporting that aerogels, a super-lightweight solid sometimes called "frozen smoke," may serve as the ultimate sponge for capturing oil from wastewater and effectively ...
Color-coded bacteria can spot oil spills or leaky pipes and storage tanks
Biology /
Sep 11, 2008 |
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Oil spills and other environmental pollution, including low level leaks from underground pipes and storage tanks, could be quickly and easily spotted in the future using colour coded bacteria, scientists heard today at the ...
