tagged w/ Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
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Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume at least 22 miles long that WHOI scientists mapped and sampled last summer in the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Moreover, they have taken a big step in explaining why some chemicals, but not others, made their way into the plume.
The findings, published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “help explain and shed light on the plume formation and verify much of what we thought about the plume’s composition,” said WHOI chemist Christopher Reddy, lead author of the study. The data “provide compelling evidence” that the oil component of the plume sampled in June 2010 essentially comprised benzene, toluene, ethybenzene, and total xylenes—together, called BTEX—at concentrations of about 70 micrograms per liter, the researchers reported.
The 70 micrograms per liter in the plume, were “significantly higher than background,” Reddy said. “We do not know with certainty the adverse effects it might cause on undersea life.”
WHOI Senior Scientist Judith McDowell said that acute toxicity levels of BTEX are in the range of 5 to 50 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for aquatic organisms—100 to 1,000 times greater than that observed in the plume. Sublethal effects, including neurological impairment, are observed at lower levels, she said. “In most instances the BTEX compounds are volatilized very quickly such that exposure duration is very short,” McDowell said. “The persistence of BTEX at depth poses an interesting question as to the potential effects of these compounds on mid-water organisms.”
A critical component of the study was a one-of-a-kind fluid sample the team collected directly from the broken riser at the Macondo well. To accomplish this, the team used an isobaric gas-tight sampler, a unique piece of equipment developed by WHOI geochemist Jeff Seewald and his colleagues and intended for use collecting fluids from deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
With the gas-tight sampler and other necessary equipment, the lead scientists were shuttled from their active research vessel to a smaller boat and brought to the Ocean Intervention III, operating above the Macondo well. They were then given 12 hours -- working with many unknowns -- to do something never done before. Using an oil industry remotely operated vehicle, they maneuvered the gas-tight sampler to the source of the spill to capture an “end-member” sample of fluid as it exited the riser pipe. No other such sample exists. By analyzing this sample, the scientists were able to determine what was in fluid spewing from the Macondo well before nature had a chance to change it and the exact ratio of gas and oil in the fluid.
“Getting this sample was probably the most dramatic and thrilling thing I have done in my life,” Reddy said.
Using petroleum industry terms, they found a gas-to-oil ratio (GOR) of 1,600 cubic feet of gas per barrel of oil. This value is smaller than other proposed values, Reddy said, suggesting “more oil may have been coming out of the well than other people calculated.”
Analyzing samples from the Macondo well and those they collected from the plume in June 2010 aboard the research vessel Endeavor, the researchers found that BTEX represented about 2 percent of the oil that came out of the well, but “nearly 100 percent of what was in the plume,” Reddy said. “A small, selective group of compounds took a right-hand turn” after exiting the well and formed the 3,000-foot-deep plume, he added. This raises a number of questions, he said, including, “Why are those chemical there in those concentrations? Why are they so abundant in the water?”
The answers have to do with the tendency of those chemicals that “like” to dissolve in water to migrate to the plume, Reddy said. Unlike other substances emanating from the well that degrade or evaporate in the water or at the surface, the compounds in the plume showed little evidence of biodegrading when the researchers examined the plume in June 2010. “[O]il and gas experienced a significant residence time in the water column with no opportunity for the release of volatile species into the atmosphere,” the researchers reported. “Hence water-soluble petroleum compounds dissolved into the water column to a much greater extent than is typically observed for surface spills.”
“We needed to have an ‘end-member’ sample, so that we could compare how nature affected the hydrocarbons as they left the riser pipe,” he said. “So this story is really about, ‘From pipe to plume: what chemicals got off the elevator to the surface and migrated to the plume.’”
The findings have “direct implications for the ecotoxicological impact of plumes,” Reddy said. “Now that we know the compounds were there for a certain time, we need to look at what that would mean to ocean life” Reddy said. “This paves the way to look at any environmental effects,” he said.
The study was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The key to locating and mapping of the plume and the collection of samples from the plume was the use of the mass spectrometer TETHYS integrated into the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry. Developed by Richard Camilli of WHOI’s Deep Submergence Laboratory, the mass spectrometer is capable of identifying minute quantities of petroleum and other chemical compounds in seawater instantly.
During the June 2010 expedition, Sentry/TETHYS, crisscrossed the plume boundaries continuously 19 times to help determine the trapped plume’s size, shape, and composition. This knowledge of the plume structure guided the team in collecting physical samples using a traditional oceanographic tool, a cable-lowered water sampling system that measures conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD). The CTD also was instrumented with a TETHYS the mass spectrometer to positively identify areas containing petroleum hydrocarbons.
Guided by the Sentry/TETHYS system, the team collected about 100 samples—a painstaking and rigorous process undertaken under strict natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) protocol and supervision. Since TETHYS is limited in its ability to analyze petroleum hydrocarbons, Reddy said, the best samples were brought back to the land-based laboratories for more sophisticated analyses, which included the help of NOAA.
Dana Yoerger, a WHOI senior scientist and a co-principal investigator on last year’s cruise, added, “We achieved our results because we had a unique combination of scientific and technological skills.”
The current results validated the findings reported with TETHYS, Reddy said.
“Chris’s work demonstrates why federally funded oceanographic research is important to society,” Camilli said. “This paper exemplifies the nearly century-old vision of the National Academy of Sciences in recommending WHOI’s founding. Its publication in PNAS brings the vision full circle.”
[More at link]Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a... more
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ...
Gulf spill science suffers: Alaska review should have clarified needs
by Rick Steiner
Jun 12, 2011
Community Perspective
History teaches us that mistakes and bad behaviors left unexamined tend to repeat themselves. Such is the case when years ago, Alaska government officials opposed calls for an independent review of the historic $1 billion Exxon Valdez Oil Spill science and restoration program. As a result, the same mistakes made with the spill in Alaska are being made today with the much larger Deepwater Horizon science and restoration program in the Gulf of Mexico.
For decades, some Alaskans argued for the establishment of an independent, comprehensive, scientific review by the National Academy of Sciences of the unprecedented Exxon Valdez spill science and restoration program. Many felt we needed an arms-length, scientific review of the science program to identify what went right and what went wrong with the effort, all with an eye toward how best to proceed with science and restoration in the next major oil spill in U.S. waters. There was need to evaluate pre-settlement damage assessment, post-settlement science, the disagreement between government and Exxon science, and the relationship between science and restoration. But the most important question was whether there was more that could be done to aid the recovery of a coastal ecosystem devastated by a major oil spill.
Unfortunately, this proposed review was never conducted because of opposition from government officials who didn’t want to publicly acknowledge shortcomings of the program. In early 1993, Cordova District Fishermen United and I asked Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to request a comprehensive review of spill science and restoration by the National Academy of Sciences. Sen. Stevens wrote the academy, and the Academy replied that it certainly would conduct the spill review if requested by Congress.
Stevens later told me, though, that federal and state agencies opposed the review, and the effort stalled. As the difficulties of the spill restoration process became more apparent over the ensuing years, Stevens again asked the state of Alaska its opinion on an independent spill review commission.
In a January 1996 letter to the senator, Gov. Tony Knowles responded that such review was not necessary.
Our efforts were successful in commissioning two reviews of spill restoration by the Government Accountability Office (1993 and 1998), but these studies were limited in scope and did not address the overall issues of science and restoration policy.
In 2007, I made the case one last time for the comprehensive spill review to the Trustee Council and to Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski supported the idea, contingent on public support. Even though the concept received endorsement by the Trustee Council’s Public Advisory Committee, the objections of Trustee Council science advisers, agencies and the Palin administration blocked the effort yet again. Thus, there has yet to be a comprehensive, independent review of the historic billion-dollar effort to restore the coastal ecosystem injured by the most environmentally damaging oil spill in history, nor a methodical look at how to conduct a more effective science and restoration program in future spills.
Then in April 2010 came the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Today, the federal government, five Gulf states, BP and local citizens are wrestling with many of the very same issues left unresolved in Alaska. The Gulf science and restoration planning effort is, predictably, in turmoil. The Gulf science program was slow getting started, disorganized, and missed a lot of valuable early information.
The public has been kept in the dark regarding critical environmental and human health information. Restoration planning is being pushed and pulled by politics, not science and environmental recovery. And so on.
Much of the current turmoil in the Gulf could have been avoided if there had been an honest retrospective review of the Alaska spill program, presenting a clear roadmap to conducting a more effective science and restoration effort in future spills. But alas, Alaska government officials were too insecure to submit to such public scrutiny and independent scientific review. Shamefully, Alaska’s post-spill chaos has now become the Gulf’s chaos. Such unwillingness to learn from critical self-reflection certainly doesn’t bode well for Arctic outer continental shelf development.
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Rick Steiner was a professor at the University of Alaska from 1980 to 2010 and the university’s marine adviser for Prince William Sound stationed in Cordova before and during the Exxon Valdez spill. He now consults globally on energy and environment issues.
Fairbanks Daily News-MinerFairbanks Daily News-Miner ...
Gulf spill science suffers: Alaska review should... more
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When you believe absolutely everything they tell you on the news.
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By Ben Raines, Press-Register
Federal officials released a report Friday that suggests cleanup operations have removed as much oil as is practical from most shorelines in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.
Further cleanup in many areas, the report argues, will do more harm to the environment than leaving the remaining oil in place.
Titled, “Summary Report for Fate and Effects of Remnant Oil in the Beach Environment” the report was drafted by the federal science advisory team studying the BP PLC oil spill in the Gulf.
Its conclusions mirror comments the science group made when drafting the “no further treatment” standards for the cleanup several months ago.
Submerged mats of oil still being discovered just off the beaches in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida are considered an exception to the rule that further cleanup will do more damage, according to the report. The submerged oil still contains many of the more-toxic compounds present in crude, while the tarballs on the beaches are more weathered and less dangerous, according to the report.
Aside from the mats, the remaining oil — which the report suggests is either buried under a few inches of sand or present in small tarballs on the beach — poses little threat to humans or wildlife, the report concludes. It documents some areas where the “no further treatment” standard has been reached, including parts of Petit Bois Island and parts of the Fort Morgan peninsula.
“Environmental impacts of remnant oil found on or near beaches after cleanup operations are relatively minor,” reads the report. “Cleanup operations beyond established standards may disturb sensitive habitats and wildlife — posing a greater environmental risk than leaving the residue in place. In these instances, further cleaning will likely do more harm than good to the ecosystem.”
The report is supposed to guide federal and state officials as they decide when to end cleanup efforts. Scientists suggest cleanup efforts could interfere with the breeding activities of birds, sea turtles and mammals such as the Alabama beach mouse.
The report and data associated with it are available at www.restorethegulf.gov.By Ben Raines, Press-Register
Federal officials released a report Friday that... more
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www.gulfofmexico2010.com
The ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is being immortalised in “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” a limited edition of original iconic works of art made using leaked BP oil harvested from the beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana. Set to become an international icon it captures the mood of the world in its collective reaction to the catastrophe.
The 200 (76.2cm x 50.8cm) signed pieces will be sold online at www.gulfofmexico2010.com and all profits will go towards funding the work of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana in the Gulf. The creation of “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” is captured in a two minute film documentary which can be viewed on the website. The video features the entire creative journey, including the collection of the oil from Grand Isle, the preparation of the crude oil and the production of the posters, individually screen printed by hand in an art studio in New Orleans.
The idea was conceived far from the Gulf, in Belgium, by Happiness Brussels and designed by internationally renowned British graphic artist Anthony Burrill.
The design of “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” has two distinct areas, separated by the top of an ocean wave. Above the wave are the words “Oil & Water” in the golden oil hue. Below the waterline, the words “Do Not Mix” are reversed out of the actual oil from the Gulf of Mexico signifying that even though the oil is in the water it’s not part of it and should not be there. In the lower right hand corner, the poster is sealed with an inscription that says “Gulf of Mexico 2010”.
Grégory Titeca, creative director and head of R&D at Happiness Brussels said: “Our aim is for “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” to act as an iconic reminder of our responsibilities to look after this planet and to highlight the massive ongoing clean-up and conservation tasks that lie ahead for the whole Gulf of Mexico region, both for its fragile eco-system and the livelihoods of the people who live and work there.”
“When natural or man-made disaster strikes anywhere in the world we all feel compelled to reach out and do something. Many of us live with the frustration and just wait for it to go away. We took our simple idea borne out of this frustration and made it happen. We sent two of our creatives on a mission to run the BP gauntlet, get down onto the beaches and collect oil with the purpose of using this oil to create something positive. This is not about beating up BP; this is about how we learn and move forward.”
Talking from his studio in England, artist Anthony Burrill said: ““Oil & Water Do Not Mix" is a basic and straightforward phrase but because the posters are printed in oil from the spill it has a strong resonance and importance. There is a perception among many people that the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is just going to somehow disappear and nothing could be further from the truth. For people in the Gulf, including Louisiana, the effects of this disaster will be around for a long time to come. We believe that great design can help change the world for the better and firmly hope that “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” will be a catalyst for such change.”
Amy Tyrrell, program director at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, said: “Oil & Water Do Not Mix” is a masterstroke of purity and simplicity; deceptively simple in delivery, but simultaneously profound in meaning. Knowing that we have friends around the world will inject fresh energy into our Oil Spill Recovery program as we work tirelessly along the shores and wetlands of Louisiana to help recover from the BP oil disaster.” www.crcl.orgwww.gulfofmexico2010.com
The ecological... more
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"In light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, Women of the Storm is rallying to restore America’s Gulf coast now and for future generations. The “Be the One” effort intends to galvanize the nation around the cause of coastal restoration in order to demand that government leaders address this critical issue. By signing this petition, you add your name to the list of Americans demanding a plan, fully funded and implemented, for the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico, its coastlines and its wetlands."
Take action now:
http://www.restorethegulf.com/
Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUO3M7MYvAI&feature=player_embedded
Join the Organic Movement:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/"In light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, Women of the Storm is... more
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A water tower on Interstate 10 proclaims that Pensacola is home to “Florida’s Most Beautiful Beaches.” With the BP oil leak fast approaching the triple digits and no permanent solution in sight, one has to wonder how long that claim will remain true. But for those living in working in the area, the leak has forced many to adapt or try to stick it out.
The Pensacola beaches have a reputation for being beautiful and crowded. On a Saturday afternoon, both appear to be holding true; white caps crest and fall in the clear water while beachgoers sunbathe and play football. It’s sunny, warm and picturesque, only now the scene also features workers in reflective jackets, hats and khakis moving up and down the beach.
It would be a typical day at the beach, if the beach didn’t sit next to the Gulf of Mexico. At the moment, however, the beach and the surf do not have any signs of oil slicks. A few days earlier, swimmers emerged from the ocean water with streaks of oil on their bodies, but now most of the evidence of oil pollution appears in the sand and sidewalks. Black oil specks, varying in size from doll buttons to charcoal briquettes, now appear in connect-the-dot patterns beside the beach towels and umbrellas.
Although things seem fine, the current lack of oil in the water does not please Christy McNair, a Pensacola resident and frequent beach visitor. She stands in the sand next to a stick covered in oil and looks at the water.
“I’m really pissed because this is my home. The first time I went I expected huge oil slicks,” McNair said. “Having to go out and step in the oil makes me angry.”
Further up the beach from McNair, several clean-up crew members in khakis, day-glow vests and hats stand in the shade of a tent, sipping water and resting before going back on patrol. The results of their recent attempts sit in clear plastic bags several yards in front of the tent, which everyone stays clear of.
The clean-up crew works in 12-hour shifts along the beach, moving from tent to tent and picking up the oil spots and debris they find along the way. The tents stand about 100 yards apart from one another, and due to heat register index and weather conditions, the workers are required to work for 15 minutes before retreating to the tent to rehydrate and stay in the shade for another 45 minutes. Workers get paid $15 an hour to do this, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
None of the workers can comment on their duties, however. They have been forbidden to speak to anyone about their duties, and a quick attempt to speak with two workers on an ATV confirms this.
“Can you talk about the work at all?”
One of the workers shakes his head. “Sorry, man. I can’t. We’re not allowed.”
(Read the rest on the original post.)A water tower on Interstate 10 proclaims that Pensacola is home to... more
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There is a very important aspect of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis that hardly anyone is talking about. You see, it is not just an "oil spill" that BP has unleashed on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. What BP has done is that they have uncorked an "oil volcano" that is violently spewing oil and gas out of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico so violently and with such pressure that it is beyond the capacity of human technology to control it. Millions upon millions of gallons of oil have already been pumped into the Gulf of Mexico, and millions upon millions more will continue to be pumped into the Gulf before all of this is over. So could all of this violent activity on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico spark seismic activity in the region that could potentially be absolutely catastrophic? Could this "oil volcano" cause an earthquake along the New Madrid fault line that is so powerful that it could bring about "the end of the world as we know it" for those living in the area?There is a very important aspect of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis that hardly... more
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a mad Dr Plans world destruction by tonyd see more at www.thetonydshow.com
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There have been some really disturbing health reports coming in from the Gulf region, and yet many public authorities have actually reopened beaches that were closed and are letting people go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico once again. But is this safe?There have been some really disturbing health reports coming in from the Gulf region,... more
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The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is already the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, but what most people don't know is that it is rapidly turning into a public health disaster of frightening proportions. Reports are scattered and mostly anecdotal at this point (as BP and the U.S. government try to keep a lid on information getting out), but it is becoming increasingly clear that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and/or the chemical dispersants being used are making a lot of people sick. So far most of the reports have been about breathing difficulties, vomiting and various flu-like symptoms. But it is the health effects that will take a long time to show up that are the most concerning.The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is already the worst environmental disaster in U.S.... more
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regisb
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1 year ago
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View EPA and Coast Guard's directive to BP to reduce the use of dispersants (PDF) (1pp., 58 KB, About PDF)
On their website:
* Press releases and statements
* Letters
* Directives and addenda
* BP data
* Questions and answers on dispersants
o Monitoring and assessment of dispersants used in the BP spill response
o EPA’s list of authorized dispersants (NCP Product Schedule)
o Dispersant effects
o Surface use of dispersants
o Underwater use of dispersants
o General Information about dispersantsView EPA and Coast Guard's directive to BP to reduce the use of dispersants (PDF)... more
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Didn't someone smart once say that doing the same thing again and again is the definition of insanity. This proves the hubris and stupidity of man as humans just continues to destroy the environments they live in.Didn't someone smart once say that doing the same thing again and again is the... more
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White House Covers Up Menacing Oil “Blob”…VIDEO BP Doesnt Want Seen!!!
by Wayne Madsen
May 19, 2010
In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana.
For FUll Story and Click here to See …VIDEO BP Doesnt Want Seen!!!...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/white-house-covers-up-menacing-oil-blob-video-bp-doesnt-want-seen/White House Covers Up Menacing Oil “Blob”…VIDEO BP Doesnt Want... more
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WTF? (VIDEO) Gulf Oil Spill…Obama Sends SWAT Teams? Levin Says “Next Step Oil Co. NATIONALIZATION!”
Gulf Oil Rig Fiasco: It’s About Scarcity and World Government
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 1, 2010
A second oil rig has overturned on the Gulf coast. It is not being widely reported. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch reports:
The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it is responding to a second oil-rig accident. A “mobile inland drilling unit” with a 20,000-gallon diesel fuel capacity overturned in the Charenton navigational channel south of U.S. Highway 90 near Morgan City, La.
(VIDEO) Gulf Oil Spill…Obama Sends SWAT Teams? “ Oil Co. NATIONALIZATION!”...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/wtf-video-gulf-oil-spill-obama-sends-swat-teams-levin-says-next-step-oil-co-nationalization/WTF? (VIDEO) Gulf Oil Spill…Obama Sends SWAT Teams? Levin Says “Next Step... more
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--CNN's Ali Velshi falsely claimed "no oil shed into the Gulf of Mexico" from Hurricane Katrina during discussion of Hurricane Gustav.
Summary: On CNN Newsroom, Ali Velshi falsely claimed, "In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 40 of these [offshore drilling] platforms, but still no oil shed into the Gulf of Mexico because of that." In fact, a 2007 report prepared for the federal government by an international consulting firm identified damage from Katrina to 27 platforms and rigs that resulted in the spilling of petroleum products into the Gulf of Mexico.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808310004?lid=563752&rid=13657559
During the August 31 edition of CNN Newsroom, while discussing Hurricane Gustav, senior business correspondent Ali Velshi falsely claimed, "In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 40 of these [offshore drilling] platforms, but still no oil shed into the Gulf of Mexico because of that." In fact, a 2007 report prepared for the U.S. Minerals Management Service by the international consulting firm Det Norske Veritas identified damage from Katrina to 27 platforms and rigs that resulted in the spilling of approximately 2,843 barrels of petroleum products into the Gulf of Mexico. The report further found that when also considering damage done to oil pipelines, a total of approximately 5,552 barrels of petroleum products spilled into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of Hurricane Katrina.--CNN's Ali Velshi falsely claimed "no oil shed into the Gulf of... more
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