bechtelBP

BP Exploration & Production Inc. "Dispersant Information." //BP Global//. BP, 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. .  **  Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? ** The author of this site is the BP corporation. This is the oil production company that is responsible for the gulf spill. The company is one of the largest, most well known oil producers today. **  What is the main topic or argument of the text? ** The topic of this text is what dispersants are and how they have been used on the gulf spill. The argument that BP is trying to make with this site is that the use of oil dispersants was justified. The corporation tries to show that it has done enough research and investigation into the matter to qualify the use of the dispersants as safe. **  Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. ** The main topic of this document is fleshed out by reading through the summary information on this page and by following the links at the bottom for more specific information. Entire reports can be found on this site detailing exactly why the corporation is justified in its actions. **  What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? ** “Surface dispersant used: more than 1, 072,514 gallons. Subsea dispersant used: more than 771,272 gallons. All amounts are approximate…When these reports are reconciled, we may discover discrepancies in the daily and cumulative totals.” “Corexit is one of the 18 dispersants on the NCP product schedule. It has been used to effectively treat other oil spills, and there are many published studies regarding its potential effects on marine life. “ “When the incident occurred, Corexit was the only dispersant on the NCP product schedule that was available immediately in the quantities needed to respond to the spill. Availability is essential because dispersants are most effective on fresh oil, and become less effective when oil is allowed to weather in the ocean environment. “ **  Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus. ** The argument of this text does not specifically support my research focus, but it does provide several important facts as well as argument that BP’s action were not negligent. The most important pieces that I found from this source were how much dispersants (roughly…) had been used and why BP claims that Corexit was the best option for spill remediation. There is a lot more information that could be gathered from this site, but the 99 page reports do not make this information the most accessible. It is certain for viewing this site that BP has tried to cover all of its bases to avoid getting in trouble for the dispersants used on the spill. **  List at least two details or references from the text that will be useful to other members of your research group. **  The use of dispersants on the gulf spill definitely has an effect on __wildlife__ and __human health__ and some of the testing BP has done may allude to this (although I believe that these results would not be published if they were found). Never the less, it is important to consider both sides of the story and understand exactly what BP has done about the spill.
 * Full citation. **