Earth Blog

In a perfect world there would be no need to manage or clean up after oil spills because there would never be any spills in the first place. We don’t live in a perfect world and the most recent disasters including the BP Oil Spill, also known as Deepwater Horizon, have heightened our awareness of the dangers of drilling related accidents and other environmental disasters. 

First responders not working on fixing the mechanics of the problem closely monitor the movement of oil or any fallout from a disaster to facilitate efficient clean-up or evacuation. Being able to predict the movement would be optimal and researchers are using mathematical methods to help them forecast just where disaster might be headed.

Just in time for Spring Break a new federal regulation will prevent certain boats from discharging sewage -whether or not it’s treated- into California’s marine waters.  The sewage ban will create the largest “No Discharge Zone” (NDZ) in the country stretching from Mexico to Oregon and includes waters around major islands. The ban will stop an estimated 22 million gallons or more of treated sewage from being dumped into the oceans, bays, and estuaries each year along 1,624 miles of coast. Under the Clean Water Act the state of California was able to ask the EPA to approve the NDZ to help restore water quality.

“This is an important step to protect California's coastline. I want to commend the shipping industry, environmental groups and U.S. EPA for working with California to craft a common sense approach to keeping our coastal waters clean," said California’s Governor Jerry Brown.