oil spill tagged posts

Oil spilled routinely into UK waters over five years has added up to thousands of tonnes of pollution endangering marine life, according to data shown exclusively to BBC News. Campaigners say the data shows some spills hit areas meant to protect wildlife including porpoises and orcas. While some oil spillage is allowed in production, they say 40% of monitored releases breached permits.

An industry representative said it takes all releases very seriously.

Energy campaigning group Uplift obtained the data through Freedom of Information requests to the offshore oil and gas regulator, the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning. 

Uplift’s analysis suggested that between 2017 and 2022, 22,000 metric tonnes of oil were discharged in UK waters, or 164,000 ba...

The island nation of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a vessel offshore began leaking oil into the ocean. MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on 25 July and its crew was evacuated. But the large bulk carrier has since begun leaking tons of fuel into the surrounding waters.

France has pledged support and the ship’s owner said it was working to combat the spill.

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth declared the state of emergency late on Friday.

He said the nation did not have “the skills and expertise to refloat stranded ships” as he appealed to France for help.

The French island of Reunion lies near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean...

With mystery oil slicks still moving down Brazil’s coast, the Brazilian Navy sent more ships on Thursday to try to prevent the pollution of unique coral reefs of the Abrolhos Archipelago marine park, a haven of South Atlantic Ocean biodiversity. Marine biologists warn that the thick sludge of crude oil that has washed up along 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of northeastern beaches for the last two months would have a devastating impact on the five small islands of Abrolhos.

The Navy, which deployed two frigates to join a task force of ten ships, said oil came ashore on Thursday at Belmonte in Bahia state, just 235 kilometers north of the archipelago.

“It would be a bigger environmental disaster that what we have seen so far on the beaches,” said Yara Novelli, professor at the University...

Seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico would cause harm to marine mammals, according to the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups. CBD issued its statement in response to a final environmental impact statement at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Traveling sea turtles were greatly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers from the University of Miami (UM) report in a new study. When investigating the 87 day-long spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico, researchers found young turtles arriving at nesting beaches in the area from across the Atlantic Ocean likely trudged through contaminated waters.

“There is a perception that the spill’s impacts were largely contained to the northern Gulf of Mexico, because that is where the oil remained,” Nathan Putman, lead author of the recent study and researcher from UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said in a news release. “However, this overlooks the movement of migratory and dispersive marine animals into the area from distant locations.”

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