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Thu, 2011-05-12 22:48 — mdmcdonald
The Deep Water Horizon Working Group is focused on studying and mitigating the negative impacts of the Deep Water Horizon accident.

The mission of the Deep Water Horizon Working Group is study and mitigate the negative impacts of the Deep Water Horizon accident.

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Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald
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AP: BP Oil Not Degrading on Gulf Floor, Study Says

Wed, 2011-09-21 00:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Jay Reeves - Associated Press - September 20, 2011

      

Tar balls mix with seashells washed up near Pensacola Beach, Fla., on Sept. 14 - Melissa Nelson / AP

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Tar balls washed onto Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month show that oil left over from last year's BP spill isn't breaking down as quickly as some scientists thought it would, university researchers said Tuesday.

Auburn University experts who studied tar samples at the request of coastal leaders said the latest wave of gooey orbs and chunks appeared relatively fresh, smelled strongly and were hardly changed chemically from the weathered oil that collected on Gulf beaches during the spill.

The study concluded that mats of oil — not weathered tar, which is harder and contains fewer hydrocarbons — are still submerged on the seabed and could pose a long-term risk to coastal ecosystems.

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Sick Fish in Gulf are Alarming Scientists - Unusual Number a 'Huge Red Flag' to Scientists, Fishermen

Thu, 2011-06-09 21:02 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Red snapper with abnormal stripes caught by a local commercial fisherman. Scientists are seeing a growing number of Gulf fish with lesions and other health problems and are conducting tests to determine whether they are related to the BP oil spill. / Special to the News Journal

Kimberly Blair - Pensacola News Journal - May 7, 2011

Scientists are alarmed by the discovery of unusual numbers of fish in the Gulf of Mexico and inland waterways with skin lesions, fin rot, spots, liver blood clots and other health problems.

"It's a huge red flag," said Richard Snyder, director of the University of West Florida Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation. "It seems abnormal, and anything we see out of the ordinary we'll try to investigate."

Are the illnesses related to the BP oil spill, the cold winter or something else?

That's the big question Snyder's colleague, UWF biologist William Patterson III, and other scientists along the Gulf Coast are trying to answer. If the illnesses are related to the oil spill, it could be a warning sign of worse things to come.

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Video - Part 2 - Lots of Inconvenient Truths -- Chemical Illness Epidemic in the Wake of the BP Blowout

Thu, 2011-06-09 20:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Riki Ott - Huffington Post - June 8, 2011

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Transocean: Coast Guard Gulf Oil Spill Report Flawed

Thu, 2011-06-09 20:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Harry R. Weber - Huffington Post - June 8, 2011

The owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year said Wednesday that a Coast Guard report that faults the company for a poor safety culture and other shortcomings that preceded the disaster is full of errors.

Transocean said in a 112-page response submitted to the U.S. government that the April 22 draft report should be corrected. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement is expected to release a joint final report with the Coast Guard by late next month.

Switzerland-based Transocean insists the blast did not result from poor upkeep, that the blowout preventer was properly maintained and that the general alarm on the rig did not fail to operate automatically. It also said the engines on the rig did not fail to shut down upon detection of gas.

"When a report of this importance purports to reach conclusions and makes findings so at odds with the evidence, questions must be raised about the fact-finding process and whether an agenda, rather than evidence, served as the report's foundation," Transocean said in its response.

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Deepwater Horizon Spill Threatens More Species Than Legally Protected, Study Finds

Thu, 2011-05-12 22:54 — mdmcdonald

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2011) — Marine species facing threats from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizonoil spill in the Gulf of Mexico far exceed those under legal protection in the United States, a new paper in the journal BioScience finds. University of New Hampshire professor Fred Short and others found 39 additional marine species beyond the 14 protected by federal law that are at an elevated risk of extinction. These species, which range from whale sharks to seagrass, should receive priority for protection and restoration efforts, the authors advocate.

 

For more information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110511134221.htm

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