The BP oil spill was a very tragic environmental disaster that occurred recently which resulted from poor engineering judgement. There were several ethical issues involved with the BP oil spill that made it such a terrible and devastating disaster. However, the disaster began with one single decision that should not have been made. The environmental ramifications that were caused by the spill are still seen along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. If ethical issues of the BP oil company were handled correctly and responsibly it is very likely the spill would never have occurred.
The BP oil spill originated from the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig was owned and operated by a drilling company known as Transocean, which was …show more content…
The concrete core was installed by contractor Halliburton in order to seal the well. The seal was supposed to withstand certain amounts of pressure caused by surges of pressure. Due to the amount of pressure the concrete had to withstand the concrete had to meet certain standards. However, in a series of released documents leaked by the WikiLeaks group it was discovered that an incident similar to the BP oil spill had occurred on another rig in the Caspian Sea in September 2008 which was also owned by the BP oil company. It was found that both the cores from the Caspian Sea as well as the Gulf spills were likely too weak to withstand the pressure. It was found that the cores were too weak due to an engineering flaw when curing the concrete. Engineers in an effort to save time on the project moved to accelerate the curing process. In order to accelerate the process nitrogen gas was added to the concrete mixture. The nitrogen gas expedited the curing process however there was a cost the came with the accelerated curing. The cores produced using the accelerated process were found to be too weak to withstand certain pressure surges caused by the surfacing …show more content…
Due to poor engineering judgment large amounts of wildlife and plant life suffered and died. In addition, 11 people died on the rig when the concrete core fractured and failed. In this case the BP oil company failed to follow a code of ethics. They instead attempted to save time and money. However, when previously determined issues with the core were discovered BP did nothing to fix the other cores. This lack of action allowed for such a tragic and devastating event to
The BP oil spill originated from the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig was owned and operated by a drilling company known as Transocean, which was …show more content…
The concrete core was installed by contractor Halliburton in order to seal the well. The seal was supposed to withstand certain amounts of pressure caused by surges of pressure. Due to the amount of pressure the concrete had to withstand the concrete had to meet certain standards. However, in a series of released documents leaked by the WikiLeaks group it was discovered that an incident similar to the BP oil spill had occurred on another rig in the Caspian Sea in September 2008 which was also owned by the BP oil company. It was found that both the cores from the Caspian Sea as well as the Gulf spills were likely too weak to withstand the pressure. It was found that the cores were too weak due to an engineering flaw when curing the concrete. Engineers in an effort to save time on the project moved to accelerate the curing process. In order to accelerate the process nitrogen gas was added to the concrete mixture. The nitrogen gas expedited the curing process however there was a cost the came with the accelerated curing. The cores produced using the accelerated process were found to be too weak to withstand certain pressure surges caused by the surfacing …show more content…
Due to poor engineering judgment large amounts of wildlife and plant life suffered and died. In addition, 11 people died on the rig when the concrete core fractured and failed. In this case the BP oil company failed to follow a code of ethics. They instead attempted to save time and money. However, when previously determined issues with the core were discovered BP did nothing to fix the other cores. This lack of action allowed for such a tragic and devastating event to