Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 25 June 2019

Hidden oil spill: New study contradicts owner’s claims

ing their bubblometer — a
box with a video camera
to get pictures of the bub-
bles, topped by a funnel to
collect the oil and gas.
The sonar showed releas-
es of 378 to 1,974 gallons
(1,430 to 7,472 liters) a day;
the bubblometer data indi-
cated 798 to 4,536 gallons
(3,020 to 17,170 liters) daily.
The extent of the pollution
has been an issue since
environmentalists investi-
gating the 2010 BP oil spill
noticed a persistent sheen
outside the heavily oiled
area.
A 2015 investigation by The
Associated Press revealed
evidence that the leak was
worse than the company
or government had pub-
licly reported.
Afterward, the Coast
Guard provided a new
leak estimate about 20
times larger than the com-
pany’s at the time.
The Coast Guard said in
In this March 31, 2015 aerial photo, the wake of a supply vessel heading towards a working platform crosses over an oil sheen mid-May that the recurrent
drifting from the site of the former Taylor Energy oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. sheen about 11 miles (18
Associated Press kilometers) from New Or-
leans had become “barely
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY face indicate there’s only the leak and a scientifically on satellite and remote visible” since a contain-
Associated Press a dribble of 2.4 to 4 gallons and environmentally sound sensing of the sheen of oil ment system was installed
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A (9 to 15 liters) of oil and gas solution. resulting from the seep, several weeks earlier.
new federally led study of a day. The company has said re- Chris Taylor, of NOAA’s Na- Court papers said the
oil seeping from a platform Taylor Energy, which is fight- maining pipes are buried tional Centers for Coastal system had captured
toppled off Louisiana’s ing a federal order to stop under so much oily and Ocean Science in Beau- more than 30,000 gallons
coast 14½ years ago found the seepage, also says any treacherous silt that stop- fort, North Carolina, said (113,000 liters) of oil over
releases lower than other oil rising from the site is from ping any leaks would do Friday. 30 days. That works out to
recent estimates, but con- oil-soaked sediment and more environmental dam- The figure is a conservative a daily amount in the mid-
tradicts the well owner’s as- any gas is produced by liv- age than letting them be. one, the report said. dle of the sonar estimate
sertions about the amount ing organisms. No coastal environmental Andrew Mason of the and at the low end of the
and source of oil. “The results of this study damage has been report- NOAA centers’ office in bubblometer estimate, the
Oil and gas have been contradict these conclu- ed from the ongoing seep- Silver Spring, Maryland, new report said.
leaking into the Gulf of sions,” said the report paid age, unlike the 2010 Deep- said, “These are not final A federal expert’s report
Mexico since a subsea for by the federal Bureau of water Horizon oil spill, an definitive government es- in Taylor Energy’s lawsuit
mudslide caused by Hur- Safety and Environmental outside scientist said. The timates,” noting that they put the figure at 10,500 to
ricane Ivan on Sept. 15, Enforcement, which over- BP spill oiled at least 400 will figure in the govern- 29,400 gallons (39,700 to
2004, knocked over a Tay- sees offshore drilling, and square miles (1,000 square ment’s official estimate af- 111,300 liters) a day. That
lor Energy Co. production written by two National kilometers) of sea floor and ter additional study. could be interpreted to
platform, which dragged Oceanic and Atmospher- 1,300 miles (2,000 kilome- The researchers said the oil mean more oil may have
and broke a bundle of well ic Administration scientists ters) of shoreline from Texas cannot be from sediment leaked there since 2004
pipes. Taylor capped nine and one from Florida State to Florida, killing thousands because it’s only mildly bio- than the estimated 130 mil-
wells but said it couldn’t University. of birds and contributing to degraded. lion gallons (493 million li-
cap 16. Taylor said in an emailed dolphin deaths for years. The team’s methods look ters) from the BP gusher in
The company contends oil statement that it wants ver- The study’s authors figure reasonable, said Ed Over- 2010.
sheens on the water’s sur- ifiable scientific data about that the total released ton, a professor of environ- But Mason said the new
each day from the Tay- mental studies at Louisiana report can’t be used to ex-
lor site could have been State University who was trapolate the total spilled
as much as 4,500 gallons not part of the study. from the Taylor site.
(17,000 liters) a day. “There are no standard And Overton of LSU said
They used sonar and a methods for this type unlike the Deepwater Ho-
newly developed “bub- of work,” because the rizon, this is a slow, small
blometer” to measure oil amounts of oil involved are seep that hasn’t oiled wild-
and gas bubbles rising relatively small, he said. life or beaches.
through the water. NOAA reported two possi- “Whatever the volume ... it
These are based on direct ble ranges: one using sonar doesn’t mean it piles up so
measurements, while previ- from a boat and an under- that you’ve got a Gulf full
ous estimates have relied water robot; the other us- of oil,” he said.q