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Oil: A Hazardous Waste In recent years, oil pol

In recent years, oil pollution has received widespread attention. The problem of environmental hydrocarbon contamination was probably most clearly defined in March, 1989, when the oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, ran aground in Prince William Sound. Since then, there have been numerous other spills, both on land and at sea. In an effort to quell the destruction, government has enacted several statutes designed to hold polluters accountable. These laws broadly affect various aspects of oil pollution: they regulate everything from supertankers to the disposal of used motor oil. Moreover, in areas already contaminated, the measures may call for remedial action. An array of remediation techniques exists which can be employed to rid a site of hydrocarbon pollution. In general, a process of risk assessment is used to elucidate those methods most appropriate to the specific location.

Petroleum is a widely-used commodity distributed throughout the world. Unfortunately, contamination of the environment by hydrocarbons is a relatively common occurrence. Releases into the sea may occur as a result of transportation activities. In fact, most marine oil pollution involves normal tanker operations: 22% of marine oil releases come from intentional holding tank purging activities. Other sources of pollution include tanker accidents (12%), industrial sources (about 31%), atmospheric deposition (about 9%), urban and river runoff (about 5%), offshore oil production (roughly 2%), ocean dumping (about 1%), and natural sources such as seeps (approximately 8%) (Suchanek, 1993, p. 510511). Hydrocarbon contamination of the land may occur by spillage and leakage from above ground or underground pipelines and storage tanks. It may also result from the inappropriate disposal of used motor oil (Wolf, 1990, p. 373).

In fact, during the early 1980s, it was estimated that the oceans alone received an average of about one billion gallons o...

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Oil: A Hazardous Waste In recent years, oil pol. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:39, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708296.html