botbrains2005

Research Paper: Oil - Polluting Our Oceans

OIL –
POLLUTING OUR OCEANS

A Research Report
By
The "BotBrains"
Junior Lego Robotics Team
November 23, 2005

OIL - POLLUTING OUR OCEANS
Introduction
I. Sources/Statistics of oil Pollution
A. Offshore Drilling
B. Big Spills
C. Natural Seeps
D. Up in smoke
E. Routine Maintenance
F. Down the Drain
II. Explanation of each source
A. Offshore Drilling
B. Big Spills
C. Natural Seeps
D. Up in smoke
E. Routine Maintenance
F. Down the Drain
III. Major Source of Oil Pollution – Down the Drain
A. Perception
B. Where it originates
C. Where it flows
D. How it affects wildlife
IV. Solutions to Oil Pollution
A. Recycling
B. Government Regulations
C. What other countries are doing
D. What Virginia is doing
E. What my community is doing
V. What can "We" do about it
VI. Conclusion

OIL – POLLUTING OUR OCEANS
Oil is the world's most precious resource, most sought after, most
volatile yet it is also widely mishandled! There are 706 million
gallons of oil that enter the ocean each year, mostly from
non-accidental sources. Surprisingly the greatest source of oil
pollution receives the least amount of publicity and the lowest source
of oil pollution receives the most amount of publicity. At 363
million gallons of oil 'down the drain', Americans carelessly dispose
of 35 times more oil than was spilled in the entire Valdez oil spill.
The six main sources of oil pollution are:
A. Offshore drilling -15 million gallons per year or 2.12% worldwide,
584,000 Google articles
B. Big Spills -27 million gallons per year or 5.24% worldwide,
4,190,000 Google articles
C. Natural Seeps -62 million gallons per year or 8.78% worldwide
D. Up in smoke -92 million gallons per year or 13.03% worldwide
E. Routine Maintenance -137 million gallons per year or 19.4%
worldwide, 698,000 Google articles
F. Down the Drain -363 million gallons per year or 51.42% worldwide
Offshore drilling may come from leakage in operational discharge and
spills caused by hurricanes.
Big Spills such as the Exxon Valdez and the Jessica oil spill have
accumulated the largest amount of publicity. Google searches found a
whopping 4,190,000 articles on oil spills and 1,250,000 articles on
the Exxon Valdez. Publicity about false problems causes people to get
government to pass laws about wrong problems. Big oil spills are the
second to the lowest contributor to oil pollution.
Natural Seeps can cause oil pollution through seepage from the ocean
bottom and the erosion of sedimentary rocks.
'Up in Smoke' refers to air pollution from cars and industries that
allow hydrocarbons to release into the air.
Routine Maintenance can cause pollution from bilge cleaning and other
ship operations such as cleaning the ships engine. Ships that dump
oily wastes is illegal but many ships release waste oils from their
engine room bilges to save the cost of pumping their oily wastes into
onshore tanks when they reach port.
'Down the Drain' comes from used engine oil improperly disposed of as
well as oil runoff from land and municipal and industrial wastes
industries ending up in watersheds and eventually making their way to
our oceans. 363 million gallons of oil entering the ocean each year -
more than all the other sources combined!
What is the 'true' problem? Through various media sources, the public
perceives the problem to be the carelessness of oil companies who leak
oil into the oceans through off-shore drilling and tanker accidents
but in fact, it's really only a small part of the huge problem that
exists today.
Used engine oil is carelessly or purposely dumped into storm drains,
yards, ditches and creeks and flows into storm drains through storm
water and urban run-off. Americans carelessly dispose 35 times the
amount of oil per year that was spilled in the entire Valdez spill.
When oil is poured down a sink, it can diminish the effectiveness of
the treatment process and could allow contaminant to be discharged.
Pollutants on the streets, such as oil, are carried to the waterways
by rain as well, and eventually into the oceans too. Oil enters our
roadways when topping off gas tanks, improperly disposing engine oil
from maintenance work, not using pumps or funnels when fueling or
maintaining motors, paint spills and improper paint disposal. More
than half of Americans change their own oil but only one-third of it
is collected and recycled
Run-off takes place when oils seep down into the ground and into
various streams that then feed into the ocean. This can pollute
waterways and harm aquatic life. Run-off can occur in many ways like
when industrial wastewater and household sewage is poured down drains
from house cleaning, washing cars, and watering lawns and fields that
contain oil from fertilizers. During heavy rains, oil-based
fertilizers are washed away into streams and other water passages
quite easily.
Even though many of these sources are in our very own backyard and
might seem like only a small amount of oil compared to the oil on the
whole earth, run-off adds up over time. Four million gallons of used
oil are unaccounted for by Virginia residents who change their own
oil.
'Down the drain' oil pollutes waterways thereby harming aquatic life.
Used oil is much more harmful to wildlife than new oil. It
contaminates their fur or feathers and they inhale or ingest the oil.
It affects their habitats.
The government and industry sponsor oil collection and recycling
programs in many communities and are increasing the awareness of the
hazards of dumping oil. Free oil pans are provided at some oil dumping
stations.
Auto salvage yards sell the used car parts and recycle oil from the
oil tank and oil filters. Six million oil filters are improperly
disposed of each year in Virginia alone. Each oil filter contains 6-8
ounces of used oil.
If we would recycle all of our oil used, this would save the U.S. 1.3
million barrels of oil/day. It takes forty-two gallons of crude oil,
but only one gallon of used oil to produce 2.5 quarts of new
lubricating oil. The public needs to be informed that used oil is
dirty but never wears out!
MARPOL (short for marine pollution), a protocol signed originally in
1973, was designed to minimize pollution of the seas, including
dumping, oil and exhaust pollution. MARPOL requires the installation
and use of oil prevention equipment and prohibits discharges within
certain distances from land.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government
organizations are working to control this pollution through different
programs. The programs include regulatory tools, planning activities,
technical and financial assistance, education, training, technology
transfer, monitoring, and demonstration projects. Programs that are
used are required to show that they've made a difference. As of 1995,
the EPA had given more than $370 million to address 'down the drain'
problems.
In Virginia, we have the Virginia Storm Water Management Program. This program:
Minimizes quantity of storm water runoff
Improves the quality of storm water runoff
Provides public outreach through a free brochure and video
In Northern Virginia, there are going to be new storm drain markers
that have a fish on it named Sherlock Shad (a local fish) and it says,
"No dumping!".

The North Fork Shenandoah River and some of its neighboring
tributaries are on the dirty water list. Friends of the Shenandoah
River help prevent pollution from the Shenandoah River and clean up
pollution. It is supporting recycling by advertising recycling centers
and the advantages of recycling. For example, if you recycle two
gallons of used oil it can generate enough electricity to run the
average household for almost 24 hours.

Locally we have an organization called Friends For Fauquier County who
is working to educate community developers and the public on solving
the issue of 'down the drain' pollution.
Fauquier County has four locations including the landfill which
collects used oil. There are brochures located in the county
libraries, at the courthouse and county buildings to inform the public
of the importance and location of disposing used oil. The county
distributed approximately 3,000 brochures in the local public schools
as well in the local parades. Information is also located on their
website: www.fauquiercounty.gov
Many local automotive parts and service stores recycle used oil as
well such as Auto Zone and Merchants Tire.
Canada searches for illegal oil dumpers with pollution patrol aircraft
on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. This is very costly to
patrol. In order to catch ships who dump at night, they are using
RADARSAT – a satellite which uses radar to detect the calming effect
of spilled oil on the water. Fines are given for violators. The
Environment Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard have initiated several
programs to educate the ships' crews about the serious effects of oil
dumping. Multilingual brochures are distributed explaining the
serious hazards. Unfortunately, many ships pass through Canadian
waters from other ports to another foreign port who are not notified

Despite more than 20 years of conventions in Sweden, cleaning the
sludge tanks is still going on at sea. This causes the presence of
thick oil slicks on the Swedish coast. Due to the slicks, 100,000
long- tailed ducks die yearly at Homburgs Bank in the Baltic Sea.
Sweden would like a device to be installed that breaks down the stable
emulsions so it can be released in the sea. This active cleaning
equipment working together with the surveillance and commanding
enforcement of the law might prevent most dumping at sea.
Some of the ideas we thought of to educate the public on oil pollution are:
A. Hand out flyers with information about the problem at gas stations
and boat marinas.
B. Make a website that has information about the problem.
C. Develop a lesson plan to use in the school, in Boy Scout, and Girl
Scout meetings, etc.
D. When getting your car inspected they could give out free oil pans
and encourage you to recycle your used oil and have them read a
pamphlet on 'Down the Drain' hazards.
Run-off and pollution can be minimized, or even prevented, by
utilizing better treatment and disposal methods for household and
industrial sewages. Practicing more safety precautions on oil tankers
and offshore drilling can prevent major spills.
It's easy to sit back and blame the problem on those involved with
Offshore Drilling and Big Spills where we as helpless individuals
don't feel like 'our part' matters. Yet, in fact, we can make a
difference! Educating the public and making them more aware of the
facts will only increase the hope for future generations to come and
our ever-changing ecosystem.
In conclusion, we believe that attention is being paid to the wrong
problems (i.e. oil spills). More research and education needs to be
done to determine the effects of 'Down the Drain' oil pollution and
how to prevent this incredibly large problem which can be humanly
prevented. The public needs to be aware of the information we have
discovered.

SOURCES
www.seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN
www.activeboard.com/forum.spark
www.deq.state.la.us/assistance/recycling
www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environment/Waste/Hazardous
www.georgiasourthern.edu
www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/stormwater/autosalvage.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARPOL
www.spaceforspecies.ca/meeting
www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?asp
www.gronkenmi.nu/skepp.
Handy Ocean Answer Book
www.dcr.virginia.gov/sw/stormwat.htm

www.epa.gov/owow/nps/facts/point3.htm

www.epa.gov/owow/nps/facts/point10.htm

www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/regulatory/mprsa/beyond.html

www.pecva.org

www.askanexpert.com

www.nationalacademies.org

posted by Unknown @ 3:06 AM