Chemical+Spills

Chemical spills are incidents that happen when containers carrying chemicals leak, or are damaged, and the chemicals leak out. The chemicals then spread everywhere, and stick to everything they touch if not contained.[1] __**How can chemical spills affect our environment?**__ They affect our environment because the chemicals can stick to animals, shores, anything really, and then they disrupt the natural balance of things.[1] Chemical spills also kill 440,000 workers a year and 10% of all skin cancers are caused by chemicals or chemical spills. Some chemical spills like Mercury Spills could cause immune system problems for the whole environment.[2] When a chemical is spilled into water ,officials must assess how fast the chemical is spreading, what type of chemical it is, and how it affects the environment, so[3] they can respond as quickly and effectively as possible.[4] At Gray Area, oil was found in some of the dead fish, and that leads to people suspecting that the oil refinery had a small oil spill, but no one is sure. The oil was car oil, but some Gray Area residents aren't so open to suggestion.[8] When there is an oil spill it is hard to contain because there are very few people who know how to contain it, and at times, there is not enough equipment clean it up before it hits other beaches and harms wildlife by polluting their water supply and killing fish, which will harm the food chain, so other animals will die. When they try to clean up the oil, they skim the water to contain and put it in barriers around it so it doesn't spread.[8] Also, the oil [5] spreads, and kills wildlife, and the environment.[1]
 * __What are chemical spills?__**
 * __What can happen when there's an oil spill?__**

media type="custom" key="2967604"[6] Oil spills can also cause devastation in ecosystems. In Gray Area, oil in the water killed fish. Oil can harm populations of animals and plants if not contained.[7]

Source: [1]__Oil and Chemical spills.__ Nov.20,2007. December 18,2008 <[[2 __Two Hospitalized after Mix-Up Causes Accidental Chlorine Gas Release.__ December 2008. Channel 3000. .<[|http://www.channel3000.com/news/18374287/detail.html]> [3] __Spill responders at work.__ January 2009 < http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/oilspill.php [4]__Oil and Chemical Spills__. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 6,2009  [5] __Spill responders at work__ big picture Copyright 2008 The City of New York http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/hazards/hazmats.shtml [6]__Tennessee toxic spill woes__ December 30, 2008http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4690885n [7] Jenny T. __Detective Notebook__, Nagel Middle School, Cincinnati, January 2009 [8] __How do you clean up an oil spill__ 1998-2009 HowStuffWorks, Inc. [|http://science.howstuffworks.com/cleaning-oil-spill.htm]