After over 3 months of intense struggle trying to stem the spewing oil in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has finally succeeded.
The enormous steel cap placed on the head of the ruptured well has borne good results. The substantial slick that spread for miles in the Gulf has, more or less, dissolved or dispersed.
Another assault on the problem, by way of ‘static kill’, has been successful, so claims the company. A permanent solution to the issue, the relief well, should also be in place soon.
So eventually, it can be safely said that the Herculean efforts have yielded results and the worrisome quantities of oil that were making way into the water have stopped.
“There’s essentially no skimmable oil left on the surface,” Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer said.
“Things have improved quite dramatically and that’s a combination of the work we’ve done and Mother Nature,” added Suttles.
Late success?
An apparently relieved Suttles is not throwing caution to the wind. “We’re far from finished,” noted the chief operating officer.
Marine conservationist Rick Steiner, a retired University of Alaska scientist said it is too early to conjecture the real impact of the spill.
The success, according to experts, has come a bit too late though. Lot of harm, economic, environmental and ecological, has already been done by the oil.
Large portions of Louisiana’s flimsy coastal wetlands are still coated with tacky sludge. Tides, till date, carry tar balls onto the beaches as far away as Florida.
Huge quantum of oil that is still in the water is poisonous for the fish and other marine life.
An estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil has made way into the sea since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20. This oil is enough to stuff 260 Olympic-sized pools.
Long term impact
Skimmers, controlled burns, chemical dispersants have helped in removing oil from the water. The clean up operations were helped by natural processes like evaporation and the microbes which feed on hydrocarbons.
But all this does not ensure a cent percent removal of oil.
“This whole notion that that stuff is weathering away is really questionable,” said Jim Cowan, a professor in Louisiana State University’s department of oceanography and coastal sciences.
“What dispersed oil does is eventually dissolves into sea water and the ultimate fate of that is ultimately undetermined,” claimed Cowan.
The effects of the spill will continue to cause devastation for years to come, warn experts.
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Source: themoneytimes.com
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