An estimated 3.4 million gallons are spewing out daily with no end in sight while toxic oil and dispersants are killing all ocean life. The catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico from Deepwater Horizon’s off-shore oil rig explosion is still spreading out of control. It has devastated the entire Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and entered the Atlantic Ocean, traveling along the coast, up to New Jersey and New York. This is no “spill”; it is already far worse than the 1989 ExxonValdez tanker accident. Some scientists estimated that 3.4 million gallons are coming out of 3 plumes daily. To-date this means 156.4 million gallons of crude oil, and counting; no wonder it is being called an underwater oil volcano.
There are new reports that another crude oil plume, 22 miles long by 6 miles wide, has been found going in another direction (West), “3,300 feet [below the surface], with the greatest concentration of hydrocarbons at about 1300 feet suggesting the highest level of environmental pollution from the BP disaster may be located out of sight in the Gulf’s deep waters.” It was discovered by David Hollander, associate professor of chemical oceanography, University of South Florida, the lead investigator of a research mission sent to the Gulf of Mexico. They “fear it is the result of BP’s unprecedented use of chemical dispersants applied underwater at the well site.” Professor Hollander said this raises more fears that oil combined with dispersant toxicity may lead to a dangerous situation for fish larvae and other creatures that filter ocean water for food.
The gravity of the ecological disaster, the worst of its kind in US history, not one person has been fired or held accountable. BP also continues to spray highly toxic “dispersants” that are wrecking additional ecological havoc, exacerbating an already critical situation One dispersant is the chemical solvent known as Corexit 9500, banned in Europe. It is spreading the crude oil and chemical toxicity over a far wider area, and traveling on the Gulf and ocean currents. The ecological catastrophe is highly likely to become transatlantic.
Title: Gulf of Mexico Oil Catastrophe Worst in History
& What to Do Instead
Source: Institute of Science in Society, 2/6/10
Author: Dr. Ilya Sandra Perlingieri
URL: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/gulfOilCatastrophe.php
Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips, Sonoma State University