An oil spill happens when liquid petroleum is released into the environment by vehicle, vessel or pipeline. It happens on a large scale and is mostly seen in water bodies. It happens due to human negligence and is a major form of pollution. The source of the spill are many. Crude oil can be released by tankers on land. In water bodies, the spill occurs due to drilling rigs, offshore oil platforms and well. An oil spills and their effects can also be experienced with refined petroleum or even waste oil from large scale industries. What is common in all of them is that the damage caused by them is permanent and takes a long time to clean up.
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