Environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
[6][7] In a 2011 paper in the journal BioScience, researchers from the University of New Hampshire reported that the spill threatened 39 marine species in addition to the 14 currently under federal protection."[9] Mak Saito, an associate scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution indicated that such an amount of oil "may alter the chemistry of the sea, with unforeseeable results.[13] "The Deepwater oil spill was the largest in US history, however, the recorded impact on wildlife was relatively low, leading to suggestions that the environmental damage of the disaster was actually modest.[19] During a January 2013 flyover, former NASA physicist, Bonny Schumaker noted a "dearth of marine life" in a radius of 30 to 50 miles (50 to 80 km) around the Macondo well.Expedition leader and biologist with Penn State University Charles Fisher said there was "an abundance of circumstantial data" suggesting coral damage is related to the spill.[24] The scientists wrote: "The presence of recently damaged and deceased corals beneath the path of a previously documented plume emanating from the Macondo well provides compelling evidence that the oil impacted deep-water ecosystems.Numerous independent scientists said they have been "personally rebuked by federal officials for speaking out of turn to the media about efforts to determine the cause" of the deaths.[29] In December 2013, the journal Environmental Science & Technology published a study finding that of 32 dolphins briefly captured from 24-km stretch near southeastern Louisiana, half were seriously ill or dying from liver disease, pneumonia, loss of teeth, and one pregnant female was carrying a dead fetus.The study was conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment process required by the Oil Pollution Act.[36][37][38] Another peer-reviewed study, released in March 2014 and conducted by 17 scientists from the United States and Australia and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that tuna and amber jack that were exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs.[40][41][42] Oceanographer John Kessler estimated that the crude gushing from the well contained approximately 40% methane by weight, compared to about 5% found in typical oil deposits.[43] Oceanographer Dr. Ian MacDonald believes that the natural gas dissolving below the surface has the potential to reduce the Gulf oxygen levels and emit benzene and other toxic compounds.[48] Carbon isotopic evidence has revealed that oil from the disaster has entered the bodies of land animals and birds (terrestrial fauna) leading to a reduction in the reproductive success of some species.[49] Terry Wade of Texas A&M University, Steven Lohrenz of the University of Southern Mississippi and the Stennis Space Center found evidence of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are often linked to oil spills, and include carcinogens and chemicals that pose various risks to human health, as deep as 3,300 feet (1.0 km) and as far away as 8 miles (13 km) in May 2010, and said it likely worsened as more oil spilled.[50] In September 2010, Oregon State University researchers found sharply heightened levels of chemicals in the waters off the coast of Louisiana in August 2010, the last sampling date, even after the well was capped one month prior.[51] Kim Anderson, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology, said that based on the findings of other researchers, she suspected that the abundant use of dispersants by BP increased the bio-availability of the PAHs."[52] Dr. Jim Cowan of Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, believes PAHs, weathered from leaked oil on the seabed, are likely the cause of the mutations.[53] A 2012 study of the sands of the contaminated beaches and marshes showed that the variety of organisms, one of the lowest links in the food chain, had dropped dramatically since the spill.The authors also expressed concerns that trace minerals and metals such as mercury and arsenic deposited by the oil may cause harm to both wildlife and humans.The Louisiana Coastal Protection Agency criticized BP and the USCG clean-up efforts, calling for more resources to deal with the roughly 1 million barrels (160×10^3 m3) of oil believed to remain below water.[70] In 2013, researchers found that a tiny amoeba-like creatures, foraminifera, that live in sediment and form the bottom of the gulf food chain, have died off in the areas that were affected by the underwater plumes that stretched out miles beyond the spill site.
Deepwater Horizon oil spillDeepwater HorizonExplosionOil spillTimelineVolume and extentClosureResponseHealth consequencesEconomic effectsReactionsInvestigationLitigationCompensationGulf of Mexicoenvironmental disasterUnited Statescrude oilenvironmentCarol BrownerExxon Valdez oil spilloxygen depletionCorexitgannetnational parksspeciesGulf islands and marshlandsKemp's ridleygreen turtleloggerhead turtlehawksbill turtleleatherback turtlepelicansroseate spoonbillsegretsblue heronsBioScienceLouisiana State UniversityWoods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionSamantha JoyeUniversity of Georgiamicrobesoxygenocean floorLouisiana pancake batfishUniversity of British ColumbiapelicanU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceMacondo wellBarataria Baydeep sea coralPenn State UniversityStenella coeruleoalbaEnvironmental Science & Technologydolphinsstillbornbluefin tunaScienceAtlantic bluefin tunabaleen whaleRice's whaleFloridaAlabamamethaneDr. Ian MacDonaldblue crabTulane Universityfood chainzooplanktonUniversity of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceplanktonPLOS ONETexas A&M UniversityUniversity of Southern MississippiStennis Space Centerpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonscarcinogenscancerGeophysical Research LettersOregon State Universitybio-availabilitycardiotoxicityhydrocarbonsmercuryarsenicgroundwaterFlorida State UniversityUtrecht UniversitydegradationOrange Beachbeach erosionHurricane IsaacsedimenttilefishforaminiferaEnvironmental issues in the United StatesEnvironmental impact of the petroleum industryHealth consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spillNational Parks Conservation AssociationBloombergThe Washington TimesWayback MachineProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaBibcodeThe Sun NewsThe Miami HeraldBloomberg BusinessweekUSA TodayEventsDeepwater Horizon explosionEfforts to stem the spillMay 2010June 2010July 2010August 2010Anadarko PetroleumMitsui Oil ExplorationCameron InternationalHalliburtonNalco Holding CompanyTransoceanWild Well ControlBureau of Ocean Energy ManagementFlow Rate Technical GroupMinerals Management ServiceNational Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling