Types of Oil Pollution

Oil pollution is a serious problem, especially oil spills in the world's oceans. Oil pollution can kill animals and wildlife, sometimes wiping out entire ecosystems before a cleanup starts. The different types of pollution have varying risks of danger to animals and humans, but the pollution always has danger associated with it. There are a few types of oil pollution, which vary depending on the kind of oil.

Oil Spills
Among the most serious types of oil pollution is an oil spill. Oil spills occur for various reasons, which range from an oil ship getting damaged or similar transport issues to problems or malfunctions of equipment at oil refineries. Transportation of oil is when spills are the most likely to occur. For example, the oil spill on April 20, 2010, which spilled oil into the Gulf of Mexico occurred due to an explosion. "The Huffington Post" reported that around 205 million gallons of oil were spilled into the ocean, resulting in oil damage to beaches, the marine environments and the livelihood of fishermen.

Urban Runoff
Urban locations exhibit oil buildup on roads from vehicles. When it rains or snow melts, the oil is pushed from the roads into sewer systems and runs off into water sources. Oil gets onto the roads though a few different means. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that leaks from vehicles, spills at fuel stations and improperly discarded oil are among the main causes of runoff oil pollution. The oil floats on the water during rain or snow melt and is pushed out of a city to pollute water and natural environments in rural areas.

Atmospheric Fallout
Atmospheric fallout is the oil that pollutes the air from vehicles and planes. This oil eventually starts to fall out of the air and into oceans or onto land masses. Fallout can be heavy or light depending on the location and the amount of pollution in the air. For example, when cars run, some of the oil burned to produce energy goes into the air. This oil either travels on the air or falls out of the air. When it rains or snows, the oil is knocked out of the air and falls to create pollution in water or land, depending on the location.

Natural Seeps
Natural seeps consist of the oil that pollutes the environment naturally. The oil oozes up out of the ground and pollutes the area around it. Perhaps one of the most famous natural seeps is the La Brea Tar Pits in California, which are a seep of oil and gas forming tar. Natural seeps are unavoidable pollution as the earth pushes oil up.

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Definition of Oil Pollution

When an accidental oil spill happens off shore, the beaches become unusable for a time and the affected marine wild life suffers. It takes a huge expenditure of time and money to clean it up. This problem is oil pollution. In fact, after the accidental off-shore oil spill on March 24, 1989 near Valdez, Alaska, the United States enacted the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This law establishes regulations that govern both the prevention and the response to oil pollution.

Identification
Oil pollution happens when any kind of oil, or product that contains oil, contaminates a natural environment like a lake, river, ocean or other area on earth. Not only does oil pollution make the water unusable until it is cleaned up, it kills many fish, birds and mammals, and can even release toxic fumes into the air that can be harmful to people.

Causes
Most oil pollution, around 46 percent worldwide, is caused by natural leaks, or seepages. Another 37 percent of oil pollution happens because oil is released into the oceans. Much of this is due to regular maintenance operations on ships that are at sea. The rest is the result of oil mixed with storm water that gets into the sewer systems before flowing into the ocean. Twelve percent of the world's oil pollution is due to accidents like the 1989 oil spill near Valdez, Alaska. Finally, oil pollution from spills that happen on off-shore oil rigs while drilling for oil accounts for around three percent of the world's oil pollution.

Effects
Oil pollution harms sea birds when the oil touches their feathers making them unable to fly. The birds cannot remove the oil from their own bodies which makes them vulnerable to hypothermia because the oil prevents the feathers from helping to insulate them from extreme cold. Marine mammals like polar bears have similar problems with extreme cold whenever oil gets into their fur. Oil pollution also destroys smaller organisms in the water that birds, fish and marine animals eat. In addition to the destructive effects that oil pollution causes for the animals, it damages the environment, turning sand black, sticky and toxic. Finally, it makes the fish in the area temporarily unsafe for human consumption.

Prevention/Solution
Whenever oil pollutes the water, it must be physically removed both from the surface of the water as well as from the land in much the same way that a cook removes oils from the surface of a pot of soup. Unaddressed oil pollution may spread over an increasing surface area of water or it might disperse in smaller fragments as it breaks up and becomes carried by the currents. Some oils will eventually evaporate. Other oils mix, in the same process that one uses to make mayonnaise, emulsifying with the water. In the best case, the oil causing the pollution is a biodegradable kind which will eventually be absorbed into the natural environment without causing permanent harm.

Considerations
Many modern commodities are made from an oil base including plastic, asphalt, waxes, lubricants, fertilizers, paint and detergent. This does not even count the oil we use for fuel. Because oil pollution can be caused by both crude and refined oil as well as by products that contain oil, it is difficult to imagine a time when substantial amounts of oil won't be en route from one harbor to another. We will remain vulnerable to oil spills and the ensuing problems of oil pollution which is why regulations like the Oil Pollution Act of August 1990 are so important to keeping our environment safe and clean for all of the earth's inhabitants.

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