CONCLUSION OF HUMAN MADE DISASTER

A major sinking of ship , an oil spill or chemical plant explosion- man made disaster often share  a common element: complacency. Managers who do not think things can go wrong, faulty technology and really bad luck can all lead to costly mishaps. But steps can be taken to try to prevent calamities before they happen. Sometimes the best response to man-made disasters can be effective planning before tragedy strikes. After 12 posts related to human made disasters present around the world, we can conclude that it is important to give full attention on safety and precautions. It is called or known as feedforward control. It is control that prevents anticipated problem before actual occurrences of the problem. For examples, building in quality through design. Most of disaster have taken many innocent lives from human, animals and forest. To make things worse, disasters that involve spread of radiation such as Chernobyl disaster make dozens of people suffered radiation burns that include birthchild babies. Clearly, the only key to prevent it is by preparations. Some people ask why bother preparing? it is simple. It is because the world is not safe as we would like to think. Accidents may happen anywhere.

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THE LOVE CANAL BY FAZIRA AMIRA

Quite simply, Love Canal is one of the most terrible environmental tragedies in American history. But that's not the most worrying fact. What is poorer is that it cannot be regarded as an isolated event. It could happen again anywhere in this country unless we move expeditiously to prevent it. It is a cruel irony that Love Canal was originally meant to be a dream community. That vision belonged to the man for whom the three-block tract of land on the eastern edge of Niagara Falls, New York, was named William T. Love. Love felt that by digging a short canal between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers, power could be produced cheaply to fuel the industry and homes of his would be model city. But despite considerable backing, Love's project was unable to tolerate the one-two punch of fluctuations in the economy and Nikola Tesla's discovery of how to economically transmit electricity over great distances by means of an alternating current. By 1910, the dream was devastated. All that was left to commemorate Love's hope was a half ditch where construction of the canal had begun.

In the 1920s the seeds of a genuine nightmare were planted. The canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. Landfills can of course be an environmentally acceptable method of dangerous waste disposal, assuming they are properly sited, managed, and regulated. Love Canal will always remain a perfect historical example of how not to run such an operation.

 

In 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company, then the owners and operators of the property, covered the canal with earth and sold it to the city for one dollar. It was a bad buy.

 

In the late '50s, about 100 homes and a school were built at the site. Perhaps it wasn't William T. Love's model city, but it was a solid, working class community.

PROTEST BY LOVE CANAL RESIDENT

 

 

 

 

 

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JILIN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION BY FAZIRA AMIRA

The Jilin chemical plant explosion were a series of explosion which occurred on 13 November 2005, in the No.101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin City, Jilin Province, China, over the period of an hour. The explosions killed six, injured dozens and caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The No.101 Jilin Chemical plant was located in Jilin City in Jilin Province, China around 380 kilometers up river from Harbin City. The plant was located next to the Songhua River, which is the main water source for much of northeastern China, including Jilin and Harbin. The Songhua River eventually runs into the Amur RIver which flows through southern Russia.

The Jilin Chemical Plant itself was the first major, large scale chemical industry base to be built in China, producing chemicals such as benzene. nitrobenzene, and aniline which are often used in the production of different plastics.

EXPLOSION

The initial explosion happened on November 13, 2005. Around noon on the day of the blast a blockage occurred in the chemical plant’s processing nitration tower for the the production of benzene. A plant worker attempted to clear the blockage on his own, but was unsuccessful.3 The blockage and the workers inability to clear the blockage eventually lead to an explosion at 1:40 p.m.

The plants initial explosion was so powerful that they shattered windows that were at least 100 to 200 meters way from the chemical plants. Explosions continued throughout the plant for about and hour and eventually lead to a large scale fire at the plants. The fire was eventually put out in the early morning of November 14,6 by around three hundred firefighters.

After the blast and the resulting fire was put out at the chemical plant, Jilin Petrochemicals denied that the Songhua River has been polluted by spilled chemical from the plant. The local Jilin officials also claimed that as a result of the explosions and resulting fire had not released any toxic chemicals into the air, but that the fire had burned all the chemicals and that it had only produced carbon dioxide and water.2

There were initial worries that the explosion may have been caused by a terrorist groups, but it was later discovered that the explosion was not caused by terrorists and instead was operator error.

EVACUATION

After the explosion and resulting fire the residents of Jilin City did evacuate the city, not because they were warned to by the local government, but because they discovered what the actual situation of the chemical explosion was. Soon after the explosion occurred a large amount of yellow and dark smoke filled the sky around the city, the smoke made it extremely difficult for the residents to breathe. By 4 p.m. almost everyone that was able to met at the cities center and began leaving the city. But because the police blocked off city streets for emergency vehicles like cars, taxi,and buses were unable to make there way through the city and greatly reduced the evacuation. Initially more then 30,000 residents of the city evacuated the city along with 12,000 university students, including 5,000 students form the Jilin Petrochemical College. But because residents were unable to use vehicles, large amount of the old and sick were left behind. Eventually 10,000 more residents had to be evacuated by the Chinese Government.

Shortly after the explosion and during the cities evacuation, electricity, water, heat, and all telecommunications were shout off, except for radio broadcasting. In the city all schools and business were closed and by 7pm [that not almost no one had electricity. The communication that was being sent out by the Chinese government suggested that the city was safe and that only non-toxic carbon dioxide had been generated by the incident, despite the fact the sky above the city was still largely covered in thick yellow smoke.

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DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL BY MUHAMAD AFIG

In the wake of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 2010. Federal agencies, state and local government agencies, and responsible parties faced an unprecedented challenge. An oil discharge continued for 87 days, resulting in the largest ever oil spill in United State waters. 11 workers are dead in this disaster.

Area of oil spill

Oil spill of this size was estimated at approximately 206 million gallons (4.9 million barrels) are occurred in United State waters.The incident tested the public and private response capabilities, as well as the legal framework of liability and compensation under the Oil Pollution Act. The oil spill cleanup, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and compensation processes continue today.

Oil Spill Response Activities

The uncontrolled discharge from the Deepwater Horizon continued for approximately 87 days until, following several attempts, responders gained control of the release on July 15, 2010. The response involved multiple agencies. During the height of operations in the summer of 2010, response personnel levels reached 47,000, and response vessel numbers approached 7,000;4 and  the maximum extent of shoreline oiling involved almost 1,100 miles of shoreline.

Recipients	Purpose	Amount of Payment ($ millions)
Federal government	Reimbursements for oil spill response costs	705
	Behavioral health	10
	Contributions	20
States	Reimbursements for response costs and other claims		738
	Tourism promotion		179
	Seafood marketing		49
	Seafood testing		25
	Behavioral health		42
	Contributions		5
Individuals or businesses	Economic claims		12253
TOTAL			14028

Selected BP Payments and Commitments Related to the 2010 Oil Spill

As of March 31, 2014

Notes: More information about the above payments is available at http://www.bpgulfupdate.com.

Cleanup

On 15 April 2014, BP claimed that cleanup along the coast was substantially complete, but the United States Coast Guard responded that a lot of work remained. The details of the cleanup operations are unclear.The State of Louisiana was funded by BP to do regular testing of fish, shellfish, water, and sand. Initial testing regularly showed detectible levels of Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, a chemical used in the clean up. Testing over the past year reported by GulfSource.org  for the pollutants tested have not produced results.

Thank you for reading.

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BAIA MARE CYANIDE SPILL BY MUHAMMAD HAZIQ

Occur in January 2000,the Baia Mare cyanide spill was a leak of cyanide near Baia Mare, Romania into the Somes river by the gold mining company, Aurul, a joint venture of the Australian company Esmeralda Exploration and the Romanian goverment.The polluted waters eventually spread and reached the Tisza, poisoning the river of Tisza and then the Danube, killing a large number of fish in Hungary and Yugoslavia. the spill has been called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster, Russia in 1986.

Sasar river in Baia Mare

Background

Aurul company claimed that it had the ability to clean up a by-product of gold mining, the toxic tailings which began to be spread as toxic dust by the wind. Promising to deal with them and to extract remaining gold from them via gold cyanidation, the company shipped its waste product  to a dam near Bozinta Mare, Maramures county. if you wonder about gold cyanidation, gold cyanidation is a technique of extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting a gold into water soluble complex and what happened next triggered the beginning of disaster. on the night of January 30, 2000, a dam holding contaminated waters burst and 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated waters spilled over some farmland and then into  the Somes river. Esmeralda Exploration blamed excessive snowfall for the dam failure as the spill was actually the result of poor dam design and unusual weather conditions.

Tisza river in Hungary

Effects

After the spill, The Somes had cyanide concentrations of 700 times above the permitted levels. The Somes flows into the Tisza, Hungary's second largest river, which then flows into the Danube, Europe's second longest river, located in Central and Eastern Europe. After the cyanide entered the Danube, the large volume of river's water diluted the cyanide but in some sections it still remain as high as 20 to 50 times the maximum permitted concentration. In addition to cyanide, heavy metals were also washed  into the river and had a long-lasting  negative impact  on the environment. The spill contaminated  the drinking supplies of over 2.5 million  Hungarians. More than 1,400 tons of fish have died as a result of this devastating environmental accident that destroyed the life basis and necessity for hundred of fishermen along the Tisza  in Hungary. Large quantities of fish died  due to  the toxicity of cyanide in the waters of the river. Living organisms such as foxes and osprey also need to pay the price as they died after eating contaminated fish.

Recovery

Two years after the spill, the ecosystem began to recover, but it was still far from better at that  time  as the fishermen  of Hungary claimed that their catches in 2002  were only  at a fifth of their original levels. The Aurul company, now known as Transgold restarted the operation some month after the accident. Though Transgold has improved its safety standard and precautions, it still under heavy criticism  of environmentalists because  the company  still choose cyanide in its gold mining operation. As there have been no additional accident in recent years, the river of Tisza could slowly recover back to its initial state.Today, the number of fish is close  to the number before the accident, but there are still fewer species in Tisza river. 

The legacy of the Baia Mare cyanide spill is a strong reminder on the importance of environmentally safe gold mining techniques environmental care, for sure.We hope this post can enlighten all of you about the importance of environmental care.

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EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL BY FAZIRA AMIRA

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on March 24, 1989, the American oil taker the Exxon Valdez collided with the Bligh Reef. This created an oil spill with far reaching consequences in the Prince William Soundin Alaska. Over 11 million gallons of oil spilled over nearly 500 miles polluting the coastline. Over a quarter million birds were killed and countless other wildlife. Over 11 000 peoples aided in the clean-up process.

How did the oil spill happened on 24 March 1989?

Here's the answer;

1. The failure of the third mate to property maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue and excessive workload.

2. The failure of the master to provide a proper navigation watch, possibly due to impairment from alcohol.

3. The failure of Exxon Shipping Company to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez.

4. The lack of effective pilot and escort services.


But what really happened? The Exxon Valdez departed from the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal at 9:12 pm on 23 March 1989. William Murphy is an expert ship's pilot hired to maneuver through Valdez Narrows was in control of the wheelhouse. At his side was the captain of the vessel. Joe Hazelwood and Helmsman Harry Claar was steering. After passing through Valdez Narrows, Murphy left the vessel and Captain Hazelwood took over the wheelhouse. The Exxon Valdez encountered icebergs in the shipping lanes and captain Hazelwood ordered Claar to take the Exxon Valdez out of the shipping lanes to go around the icebergs. He then handed over control of the wheelhouse to Third Mate Gregory Cousins with precise instructions to turn back into the shipping lanes when the tanker reached a certain point. At that time, Claar was replaced by Helmsman Robert Kagan. For reasons that remain unclear, Cousin and Kagan failed to make the turn back into the shipping lanes and the ship ran around on Bligh Reef at 12:04 am on March 1989 and Captain Hazelwood was in his quarters at that time.

Exxon Valdez on 24 March 1989

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CHERNOBYL DISASTER BY NUR RAHMAH HAYATI

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis. That moment marked the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever encountered, releasing catastrophic amounts of radioactive material into the environment, which quickly spread over Ukraine, Belarus and as far away as Western Europe.

 WHAT

The explosion of the reactor at Chernobyl's nuclear power plant was so all-encompassing and unprecedented in scope, that the devastation and consequences. The explosion released into the atmosphere 126 different radioisotopes with half-lives that will last for years. Radiation intensity at Chernobyl was 100 times the radiation caused by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion left damage in its wake, instantly taking lives and sealing the fate of generations to come.

WHERE

The Chernobyl station was built in the late 1970s on the banks of the Pripyat River, Chernobyl had four reactors, each capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power. It was located at the settlement of Pripyat, about 65 miles north of Kiev in the Ukraine.

On the evening of April 25, 1986, a group of engineers began an electrical-engineering experiment on the Number 4 reactor. The engineers, who had little information of reactor physics, wanted to see if the reactor’s turbine could run emergency water pumps on inertial power.

Today, Chernobyl’s thirty-kilometre circumference was label as “dead zone.” It is one of several closed areas in Ukraine and Belarus that are estimated too jeopardise to inhabit--though some people continue to live there. Today, thousands of people still live in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, the region affected by the radiation generated from Chernobyl and the area once known as the Jewish Pale of Settlement.

 WHEN

APRIL 25, 1986

1:05   pm: Power Plant decreasing, signifying the start of the reactor shutdown.
2:00   pm: Emergency Core Cooling System is disconnected and power is reduced to 30 MW.
11:10 pm: Power reduction resumed.

APRIL 26, 1986

Operating Reactivity Margin (ORM) decreases to below 30 rods. No station manager’s approval for operation with less than 30 rods.

1:00  am: Increased power to 200 MW by removing rods.
1:07  am: 2 additional recirculation pumps started—all 8 are running. All but six rods are removed.
1:19 am: Increased feed water flow to steam drums. Required immediate shutdown— warning ignored and test initiated.
1:22:30 am: Feed water flow to steam drums decreased to very low value - 30 seconds later reactor inlet temperature begins to rise.
1:23:04 am: Turbine valves closed.
1:23:40 am: Emergency Scram initiated by button AZ-5
1:23:43 am: Power increasing rapidly due to positive void coefficient.
1:23:48 am: Explosion occurs, followed by a second explosion seconds later.

 AFTERMATH

Up to 60 sq. mi. of Soviet farmland is likely to remain severely polluted for decades, unless steps are taken to eliminate the tainted topsoil. Reason: caesium 137 and strontium 90, two radioactive particles spewed by the blaze, decay very slowly. It could take years for the ground to be free of them. Together with the shorter-lived iodine 131, the substances promise to pose short- and long-term problems for people, crops and animals.

Based on Belarus national cancer statistics, Greenpeace expected that up to 270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancer cases have been caused by Chernobyl. The report also estimated that 60,000 people have additionally died in Russia because of the Chernobyl accident, and estimates of the total death toll for the Ukraine and Belarus could reach another 140,000. The Greenpeace report said the rate of cancer in Belarus had jumped 40 percent between 1990 and 2000, with children not yet born at the time of the disaster showing an 88.5-fold increase in thyroid cancers.—Greenpeace 2006.

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