Reports of underwater oil are exaggerated, officials say

Reports of underwater oil are exaggerated, officials say

HOUMA — Federal marine scientists said media reports of underwater oil plumes observed by scientists aboard a local research vessel, the Pelican, created an inaccurate picture of vast amounts of crude lurking beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

Some information “was misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate,” Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Monday. The scientists aboard the vessel, which is based at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Cocodrie, were drafted by NOAA to do research on the spill.

Scientists along the Gulf Coast are worried that the unprecedented deep-water use of chemicals called dispersants could be keeping toxic crude below the surface. The New York Times and other news outlets reported that scientists aboard the Pelican found “enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots.”

While particles of oil suspended in water were found, federal scientists are still testing how much oil might be underwater and whether dispersants are the cause, Lubchenco said.

More than 560,000 gallons of chemicals have been applied to disperse the oil on the surface and deep in the Gulf. Diffusing and sinking the oil is protecting the coast, scientists say, but could be causing deep-sea impacts. The submerged oil could sink and coat corals and other reef organisms and smother them.

Dispersants are typically applied on the surface, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved their underwater use Friday in hopes of combating the leak of millions of gallons of oil from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster. The rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and initiating a massive leak from a well on the sea floor. Workers began injecting the dispersants near the site of the spewing oil in an attempt to limit the amount of crude that reaches the surface.

The chemicals work by breaking the oil into individual droplets that oil-destroying bacteria can break down faster than a solid slick, said Kerry St. Pé, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program and former head of the state's oil-spill response team. The dispersed oil sinks and moves with the current but is not impacted by surface winds.

Dispersants are toxic, but their use is a trade off and has probably helped keep oil off Louisiana's shore in large volumes, St. Pé said.

“The dispersed oil is probably impacting marine life in the open ocean, and those impacts shouldn't be taken lightly. But those impacts are less than if the oil had come into our estuaries,” St. Pé said.

The presence of giant columns of oil just beneath the surface of the water is unverified by data, Lubchenco said. Scientists aboard the Pelican also found low oxygen levels in the water, but Lubchenco said they were not low enough to be a source of concern. Lubchenco also said there's no evidence to connect the findings and use of underwater dispersants.

“There's no solid scientific evidence that there are these large undersea plumes,” said Charlie Henry, an environmental scientist with NOAA's emergency-response team.

He said scientists were able to find the basic compounds of oil, hydrocarbons, in the water columns, but the data is still being analyzed. In the meantime, NOAA is doing “a number of things to locate oil before it has an adverse impact.” The agency is conducting extensive water sampling and dropping “crab pots” of absorbent material to check for oil under the surface. Researchers are also dropping trawls up to 100 feet underwater to look for oil.

“It will be a long time before we have all the information,” Henry said. “We're looking hard to paint the whole picture, and we're taking a lot of effort and time to analyze and study it.”

He added that the oil on the surface is “the thinnest I've seen yet,” and credited the use of dispersants.

St. Pé said dispersants are the likely reason a relatively small amount of oil has come ashore. He oversaw the application of dispersants to oil spills 20 years ago and said there are strict protocols that must be followed before the chemicals are used.

But he added that applying dispersant near the bottom of the Gulf carries a lot of unknowns.

“It's cold down there, and no one has quantified the impact of those cold temperatures on dispersed oil,” he said, adding that the cold could reduce the breakdown of oil by bacteria, much like a refrigerator keeps food from decaying for longer. That could cause the oil to stay fluid and impact the Gulf for a longer period of time, St. Pé said.

“As we have emphasized, dispersants are not a silver bullet. They are used to move us toward the lesser of two environmental outcomes,” Lubchenco said. “Until the flow of oil is stemmed, we must take every responsible action to reduce the impact of the oil.”

Dispersants are typically applied on the surface, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved their underwater use Friday in hopes of combating the leak of millions of gallons of oil from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster. The rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and initiating a massive leak from a well on the sea floor. Workers began injecting the dispersants near the site of the spewing oil in an attempt to limit the amount of crude that reaches the surface.

The chemicals work by breaking the oil into individual droplets that oil-destroying bacteria can break down faster than a solid slick, said Kerry St. Pé, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program and former head of the state's oil-spill response team. The dispersed oil sinks and moves with the current but is not impacted by surface winds.

Dispersants are toxic, but their use is a trade off and has probably helped keep oil off Louisiana's shore in large volumes, St. Pé said.

“The dispersed oil is probably impacting marine life in the open ocean, and those impacts shouldn't be taken lightly. But those impacts are less than if the oil had come into our estuaries,” St. Pé said.

The presence of giant columns of oil just beneath the surface of the water is unverified by data, Lubchenco said. Scientists aboard the Pelican also found low oxygen levels in the water, but Lubchenco said they were not low enough to be a source of concern. Lubchenco also said there's no evidence to connect the findings and use of underwater dispersants.

“There's no solid scientific evidence that there are these large undersea plumes,” said Charlie Henry, an environmental scientist with NOAA's emergency-response team.

He said scientists were able to find the basic compounds of oil, hydrocarbons, in the water columns, but the data is still being analyzed. In the meantime, NOAA is doing “a number of things to locate oil before it has an adverse impact.” The agency is conducting extensive water sampling and dropping “crab pots” of absorbent material to check for oil under the surface. Researchers are also dropping trawls up to 100 feet underwater to look for oil.

“It will be a long time before we have all the information,” Henry said. “We're looking hard to paint the whole picture, and we're taking a lot of effort and time to analyze and study it.”

He added that the oil on the surface is “the thinnest I've seen yet,” and credited the use of dispersants.

St. Pé said dispersants are the likely reason a relatively small amount of oil has come ashore. He oversaw the application of dispersants to oil spills 20 years ago and said there are strict protocols that must be followed before the chemicals are used.

But he added that applying dispersant near the bottom of the Gulf carries a lot of unknowns.

“It's cold down there, and no one has quantified the impact of those cold temperatures on dispersed oil,” he said, adding that the cold could reduce the breakdown of oil by bacteria, much like a refrigerator keeps food from decaying for longer. That could cause the oil to stay fluid and impact the Gulf for a longer period of time, St. Pé said.

“As we have emphasized, dispersants are not a silver bullet. They are used to move us toward the lesser of two environmental outcomes,” Lubchenco said. “Until the flow of oil is stemmed, we must take every responsible action to reduce the impact of the oil.”

“It will be a long time before we have all the information,” Henry said. “We're looking hard to paint the whole picture, and we're taking a lot of effort and time to analyze and study it.”

He added that the oil on the surface is “the thinnest I've seen yet,” and credited the use of dispersants.

St. Pé said dispersants are the likely reason a relatively small amount of oil has come ashore. He oversaw the application of dispersants to oil spills 20 years ago and said there are strict protocols that must be followed before the chemicals are used.

But he added that applying dispersant near the bottom of the Gulf carries a lot of unknowns.

“It's cold down there, and no one has quantified the impact of those cold temperatures on dispersed oil,” he said, adding that the cold could reduce the breakdown of oil by bacteria, much like a refrigerator keeps food from decaying for longer. That could cause the oil to stay fluid and impact the Gulf for a longer period of time, St. Pé said.

“As we have emphasized, dispersants are not a silver bullet. They are used to move us toward the lesser of two environmental outcomes,” Lubchenco said. “Until the flow of oil is stemmed, we must take every responsible action to reduce the impact of the oil.”