Three Years On: Oil Still Washing Ashore in Gulf Coast

The clean-up of the?disastrous?April 20, 2010 BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Coast, which consisted of over 4.9 million barrels of oil, is still not over and it is Isaac that we can thank for letting us know.

Today it was reported by the AP that Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University chemist, confirmed that the oil that recently washed up on Elmer?s Island and Grand Isle was a match to the oil spewed from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig incident. Joel Hayworth, a researcher at Auburn University, backed this up when he stated, ?a full chemical analysis isn?t yet complete, but the new tar deposits appeared ?remarkably similar? in composition and consistency to tar found on state beaches during and immediately after the BP spill.?

Tar balls (oil) continue to wash ashore along the Gulf Coast after major weather events mostly due to the fact that BP used chemicals to sink the oil where it remains until churned up by strong currents like the ones from Hurricane Isaac.

Fortunately, BP is not running from its obligations and has already said they would work to clean up the oil. But, if they (or the U.S. government) would have done an effective job in the first place, would we even be dealing with this now?

At this point, there is no use living in the past and what could have been; we can only look forward. But just when I start to be optimistic, Hayworth refers to one medium in which the excess oil is washing ashore: tar balls. Hayworth states, ?They are resident tar balls that got redistributed by Isaac?we?re in year three and this seems to be the new normal for the Gulf Coast. For some unforeseeable time, this is going to be the new normal for the beach.?

In other news, animals still hate BP.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/VeracityStew/~3/25xVH4_SUWY/

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