Essay on BPs Oil Spill

Transoceans Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was approximately fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico was producing around 336,000 gallons of oil daily. It was also carrying 700,000 gallons of fuel oil every day. On April 20, 2010, it experienced some consecutive explosions where 114 workers survived the tragedy, but 11 workers were never found CITATION Web10 \l 1033 (Webley, 2010). After two days an explosion caused the rig to collapse and sink. After the rig had collapsed there was massive oil spillage that seriously damaged the ocean and marine life. Deep-oceans, beaches, estuaries and coastal waters all are affected CITATION Geo10 \l 1033 (Catalano, 2010). The coastguards reported that approximately 42,000 gallons of crude oil were leaking from an underwater well that was five thousand feet below the surface. Marine animals were swept ashore having died from suffocation. The families that depended on marine life for survival were severely affected CITATION Web10 \l 1033 (Webley, 2010). Those whose economic status and way of life were dictated by the oceans experienced great loss. It threatened to end their cultures. The Homeland Security Secretary ordered a federal investigation into the cause of the explosion while BP and government agencies tried to clean up the mess. President Barack Obama pressured BP to compensate the people affected by the spillage including those who were left unemployed. The CEO of BP, stepped down as he was the face of the spillage. Days passed, and still, nobody knows exactly what happened that day.

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Making a decision is like taking a leap of faith. Nobody knows the consequences that will follow at that. When faced with such a disaster, making decisions can be extremely hard. To make such decisions one need to consider some values of course after researching extensively. Decisions can be made based on utilitarism, rights-based ethics and virtue ethics. In this context utilitarism and rights-based approaches were used to make decisions. The right based approach is an approach that advocates for the rights of people CITATION Geo10 \l 1033 (Catalano, 2010). A decision made under this approach will be aimed at seeking justice. For example, President Barack Obama pressured BP to compensate the people that were affected by the tragedy. They even set aside 20billion dollars for damages claims and a 100 million dollars for wages and to cater for those left unemployed. This decision was aimed at lessening the loss for individuals directly affected by the oil spill CITATION Web10 \l 1033 (Webley, 2010). Victims were happy they were not left entirely empty-handed, and their rights were put into consideration. Utilirarism is when the moral worth of a decision is determined by how good it makes people feel. For example when the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, stepped down from his job. He did so because his reputation had been tainted as he was the face of the oil spill. Whenever anyone would think of BP they would think of him and the oil spill. It was for the greater good if he stepped down as they had experienced a loss of 17 billion dollars CITATION Web10 \l 1033 (Webley, 2010). A new CEO would create a new trust to interested investors. It was for the greater good. Another example is when the (NOAA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration doubled the no-fishing zone in the affected area to 45,728square meters. It was all for the greater good.

Values can defer from one person to another. The decisions that were made after the oil spillage based on the rights-based approach and the utilitarism helped control the situation, but more should have done. Some of those decisions made saved lives and helped people get by. However other decision-making approaches should have been put in place. Perhaps if they made decisions based on virtue approach, they could have prevented the oil spillage in the first place. The virtue approach is when an engineer makes decisions depending on their moral character CITATION Geo10 \l 1033 (Catalano, 2010). It was reported that a leakage had been reported earlier on but no action was taken against it and as a result, the tragedy struck. If the one who had reported the leakage was aggressive enough the lives of the 11 missing workers, presumed dead would still be alive. Values such as honesty, accountability, and responsibility should have been upheld. BP had drilled more than it was expected so as to maximize profits but they did not stop to consider the impacts of their actions. There were huge underwater plumes that were 10 miles long (The Ocean Portal, n.d.). BP rushed to make decisions in regards to stopping the spillage. That is why their methods failed. They wanted the easy way out, clean the mess and salvage the image of the company. The containment dome method failed, the top kill and junk shot also failed (The Ocean Portal, n.d.).

The key players, in this case, could have made better decisions. For example, the coast guards should not have called off the search parties after three days. Perhaps someone was still clinging on to life and had not yet died. Such a person could have been saved. The BP engineers should have taken their time to draft a clear plan and one particular method after having evaluated their pros and cons perhaps it would not have taken long to clean up the mess. They did not use the value of responsibility and accountability. The BP should have taken full responsibility for the tragedy, but instead, the CEO shifted the blame to other companies CITATION Web10 \l 1033 (Webley, 2010). The value of accountability, honesty, and accountability among others should have been the driving decision making of the key participants in this case.

Problems arise when values conflict. Values differ from one person to another. Someone may believe in things that another may not. For example, the person who had reported the initial leakages may have been forced to keep quiet to save his/her job. The conflict value here applies when one wants, to tell the truth but does not want to lose their source of income. When faced with such an ethical dilemma one should think carefully before making a decision.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Catalano, G. D. (2010). Tragedy in the Gulf. In A call for a new Engineering Ethics.

The Ocean Portal. (n.d.). Gulf Oil Spill.

Webley, K. (2010, August 20). Time. Retrieved May 16, 2017, from 100 Days of the BP Spill: A Timeline: http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31