Oil spills no matter where always manage to capture the headlines. The recent Port Arthur oil spill in Texas has once again proved how ports are prone oil spills. This spill disaster was the outcome of a collision between an oil tanker and a towing vessel. Just as any other oil spill, the amount of damage caused by this tanker accident is also not very clear.
With 462,000 gallons of oil spewing out into the sea, the
Texas oil spill is the largest spill that has hit Texas in the past 16 years. The previous worse case was a Norwegian tanker accident that spilled 4.3 million gallons of crude oil on the coast of Galveston!
The amount of oil recovered is just around ten percent. About one third of the spilt oil was either evaporated or dispersed and the remaining oil is still continuing to pose a threat to the environment. Booms and oil-sucking skimmer boats were used to prevent the spill from spreading.
Whenever an
oil spill occurs, the marine ecosystem is the worst affected one. Oil covered herons were identified soon after the Texas oil spill occurred and itll not be too shocking if more laid up birds are found.
