Report: Plenty of oil is still in the Gulf

Posted on 17 August 2010

A report released by the Georgia Sea Grant and the University of Georgia concludes that as much as 79 percent of the oil released into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon well has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem.

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The conclusion conflicts with a recent report from the government saying that about 75 percent of the oil was gone.

"One major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless," said Charles Hopkinson, director of Georgia Sea Grant and professor of marine sciences in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "The oil is still out there and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are."

Co-authors on the paper include Jay Brandes, associate professor at Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; Samantha Joye, professor of marine sciences at Georgia; Richard Lee, professor emeritus at Skidaway; and Ming-yi Sun, professor of marine sciences at Georgia.

The group analyzed data from the Aug. 2 National Incident Command Report, which calculated an "oil budget" that was widely interpreted to suggest that only 25 percent of the oil from the spill remained.

Hopkinson notes that the reports arrive at different conclusions largely because the Sea Grant and Georgia scientists estimate that the vast majority of the oil classified as dispersed, dissolved or residual is still present, whereas the government's report has been interpreted to suggest that only the "residual" form of oil is still present.

Another difference is that the government's report estimates that 4.9 million barrels of oil were released from the wellhead, while the Sea Grant report uses a figure of 4.1 million barrels because 0.8 million barrels were piped directly from the well to surface ships and did not enter Gulf waters.

On a positive note, the group says natural processes continue to transform, dilute, degrade and evaporate the oil. They add that a circular current known as the Franklin Eddy is preventing the Loop Current from bringing oil-contaminated water from the Gulf to the Atlantic, which bodes well for the East Coast.

Comments

Bravo Sierra

I understand that shrimpig has resumed in the gulf, but you don't need any olive oil in the scampi.....nobody cares what is happening as long as the FL beaches are clean for tourists.

The administrations CYA report is intended to lay the ground work for November's elections and allow the administrration to claim success and draw attention away from it's foot dragging and screw-ups. This is their version of the George Bush praise of "Brownie" before he dumped him for screwing up Katrina response. When given a choice between politicans and the scientific community....I'll go the scientific route. I consider "politican" to be nothing more then another word for whore. Most are for sale including your local ones and geting elected or re-elected is their number one priority...screw the public...which is what of them most do.

according to the media, the seafood inspectors will be emplying the "smell" test...

If it smells oily, will be dumped...

Athough quite lacking, this test does not surprise me at all given the rest of the "science" behind ANY report coming from this President's minions.

So the important question is: who is responsible for deciding if gulf shrimp is safe to go into the food industry? It sounds like the government does not want to worry about the oil that was treated by dispersents, but that oil is now in the food chain. The shrimpers want to fish, the government wants them to be employed and be fishing, and BP does not want the claims against them to be any higher. What entity will be protecting the consumer and not be involved finacially or politically.

Yah, the truth. Who funded the grant?

NOAA will say what they're told or face a fate similar to NASA.

"You know Ms. Lubchenco, we don't need any more atmospheric data from the West Indies. Let's deploy the Ron Brown to Norway to celebrate the contributions of the stalwart Norsemen. Be good PR if you went along."

"75% clean it is Mr. President!!"

Finally, the truth.

The NOAA report was basically a CYA report. An attempt by the federal government to cover up their gross incompetence in dealing with this oil spill and the impact thereof.

When I was in the Gulf, delivering boats for the cleanup, I asked federal employees why the federal government didn't take a stronger leadership role. Their answer, "It's BP's money that is paying for the cleanup." My response, "So what, it is our ecology and economy that is being destroyed."

I trust neither BP or the federal government on this issue.

Perhaps someone ought to let NOAA know this?

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