US EPA discusses chemicals used to break up oil in Gulf of Mexico
EPA scientists will meet with the agency’s chief Saturday to discuss the chemicals BP is using to break up the oil slick caused by crude gushing from the company’s ruptured deepwater well.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s briefing on dispersants in Gulf Breeze, Florida, comes two days after the agency released results from its first round of toxicity testing on eight of the dispersants used in the Gulf.
The EPA study showed that the chemicals, when not mixed with oil, did not significantly disrupt the endocrine systems of marine life. But the agency has said it plans to conduct more tests of the toxicity of the dispersant when mixed with crude.
Researchers have estimated that between 35,000 barrels (about 1.5 million gallons) and 60,000 barrels (about 2.5 million gallons) of oil have been gushing into the Gulf daily since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana.
Dispersants have been a key part of the BP’s cleanup strategy. Since the beginning of the disaster, more than 1.6 million gallons of the dispersant Corexit 9500 alone have been injected into the Gulf.
Critics say the chemicals could harm marine life. But the Coast Guard has said dispersant use is “evaluated daily” and that it’s using the “safest and most effective methods available” to protect the sea environment.
A CNN analysis of daily dispersant reports provided by the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command showed that the chemical dispersants keep flowing into the Gulf of Mexico at virtually unchanged levels despite the EPA’s May 26 order to BP to “significantly” scale back.
Before that date, BP used 25,689 gallons a day of Corexit. Since then, CNN’s analysis showed, the daily average of dispersant use has dropped to 23,250 gallons a day, a 9 percent decline.
Over the past few days, bad weather has significantly hampered BP’s oil cleanup and collection efforts. Hurricane Alex made landfall in northeastern Mexico late Wednesday, but its impact was still felt in the Gulf days later.
More oil than what would fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool slipped by the cap on BP’s ruptured undersea well because of bad weather on Friday, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said.
The cap on the well in the Gulf of Mexico, bouncing in the rough conditions, captured 20,000 barrels (840,000 gallons) fewer than anticipated, Zukunft said.
The rough seas also prevented skimming or burning for the past two days, displaced boom and made it unsafe to fly, he said.
BP spokesman Mark Proegler noted that forecasters expect rough seas to calm a bit this weekend.
Crews are standing by to resume skimming operations and survey inland waterways that may have seen impacts due to a storm surge. Shoreline cleanup operations continue with limited weather interruption.
For the 12-hour period from midnight until noon Friday, approximately 8,665 barrels of oil were collected and about 4,155 barrels of oil and 28.6 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared, BP said.
Thursday’s total oil recovered was approximately 25,150 barrels.
Newly retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced Friday that since June, the skimming capability in the Gulf has increased more than fivefold — from approximately 100 large skimmers to 550 skimming vessels of various sizes working to collect oil in all parts of the region as of today.To date, 28.2 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been skimmed from the Gulf’s surface.
Source: CNN