How To Prevent Oil Spills: What Oil Companies Should Do
Though the recent oil spill in the Great Barrier Reef on 3rd April 2010 is still persistent in our memory, here we get another similar incident near Venice, LA. Despite frequent debate and discussions the oil companies are denying their responsibility regarding this matter. According to the report of Chevron Pipe Line Company more than 18,000 gallons of crude oil dripped from a pipeline into a channel which is located near Venice. Before they were able to fix it, the crude oil covered the total area of 76 square miles of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge. It affected nearly about one-fifth of the refuge alongwith120 square miles of the gulf region. A report maintains that the Chevron Pipe Line was in-charge of the affected pipeline though it was owned by Cypress Pipe Line Company. Hence there is a big dispute over who is then responsible for this mishap. But nobody is willing to take the necessary action to clean up the affected area.
Now it is time to reach a workable solution on how the oil companies can prevent such oil spills. Government officials say each particular cleanup can cost millions of dollars in the case of severe oil spills. The companies can save their money by taking some important measures in order to prevent this kind of incident occurring repeatedly.
1) They can put in place regulars inspections on the conditions across the fuel lines and provide the equipment to make sure that they are in good condition.
2) Installation of oil safety valves as they can stop the supply in the oil pipes if any damage occurs.
3) Cleaning of oil tanks every 10 years to prevent corrosion and rust in the tank.
4) If the underground oil tanks are more than 15 years old immediately replace them with over ground tanks as they are less corrosive.
5) Reinforce the hull and storage areas of oil tankers to make oil spills very difficult to happen.
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