Environmental Hazards of Drilling for Oil in the United States

• Both oil production and processing affect the land and wildlife around them. Hal Bergman/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Oil drilling has both direct and indirect environmental consequences. Oils spills are always of concern. However, spills due to political uprising because of oil drilling aren't expected and have happened in countries like Colombia. It comes down to whether we are willing to put our land and wildlife at risk to save a few pennies.

Land

• Infrastructure must be installed in order to operate an oil drilling facility. Roads, houses, shops, industrial complexes and even airplane landing strips are commonly built at remote oil drilling sites, according to Robin Nixon of Live Science. The introduction of facilities like this can be damaging to an ecosystem. It is both the retrieval and processing of the oil that affects the land. Toxins from petroleum processing plants seep into ground water and can poison plants, animals and eventually even humans. This destroys not only wilderness but cropland, pasture and rivers.

Wildlife

• Marine life is particularly put in jeopardy because of oil drilling. Seepage and spills take their toll on ocean wildlife, though cleanup operations can, as well. Seismic waves are used to detect oil reserves. When the waves are pumped through water it disturbs the ears of wildlife inhabiting that water like whales, porpoises and fish. The waves disorient the animals according to Live Science. Some oil companies even conduct further experiments on how these seismic waves affect the animals by using different animals as guinea pigs. Oil waste dumping and pollution associated with oil drilling destroys the habitat of wildlife weather the facilities exist on land or off shore.

Spills

• The Defenders of Wildlife report that there are over 6,000 birds confirmed dead as a result of the BP Gulf oil spill on April 20, 2010. Impacted wildlife include manatees, pelicans, sperm whales, blue fin tuna and sea turtles. Miles of coral reef and coastal wetlands have been destroyed or damaged because of this disaster. Crude oil contains many toxins and chemicals poisonous to animals, humans and plants. Heavy metals, sulfur and oxygen compounds distributed in the water and soil from an oil spill kill wildlife, leach poison into the soil and destroy marine life.

Disease

• Historical data collected in other countries concerning the consequences of oil drilling suggest that political uprising due to environmental concerns is common in countries with oil drilling facilities. Protests in Ecuador reflect the impact that oil drilling has had on the area's indigenous people. Contaminated water put these people at risk of cancer, dermatitis and abortion. According to Dabbs of the American University, Texaco has spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil into Ecuador's forests leaving ponds full of toxic waste abandon. The native people suffered headaches, nausea and illness from drinking and bathing in this water.