General

No harm, no foul?

U.S. government report to conclude most of the oil from the Gulf spill is no longer in the water

A report that’s yet to be released by the U.S. government is expected to concludes that 74 percent of the oil that spilled out from BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico is no longer contaminating the water due to capture, burning, skimming, evaporation, dissolution or dispersion. Though the report says long term effects remain unknown, the oil poses no immediate threat. “There’s absolutely no evidence that there’s any significant concentration of oil that’s out there that we haven’t accounted for,” said Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The new report is being met with skepticism—advocacy groups and other scientists only became aware of it on Tuesday—given that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was the same agency that lowballed early oil gush estimates and downplayed the spill’s environmental impact. The news comes as BP has started operation Static Kill, which the company hopes will stop the flow of oil until relief wells are drilled.

New York Times

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