Saturday 7 August 2010

BP Oil Spill: Obama Administration's Scientists admit Alarm over Chemicals - The Guardian


photo credit Reuters


Scientists are finding that almost two million gallons of Corexit were used to disperse the BP spill. The trouble is that no one knows what the long term effects will be. The EPA has recently come under fire for allowing BP to use such massive quantities of dispersant in the first place, and for allowing the company to ignore their advice to cut dispersant use by 75% back in May.

Says Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who introduced a ban-on-dispersants bill passed by the House of Representatives last week: "[The EPA] have fallen down on the job very substantially because they allowed BP to use dispersants. Even when they told BP not to use dispersants they allowed BP to ignore their advice."

According to the article, the EPA as a whole wasn't even involved in these decisions.

"Other than a few people in the united command, there is no involvement from the rest of the agency," says Jeff Ruch, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. He adds that several toxicologists he has spoken with were deeply concerned, particularly about where the EPA was getting their information. "The concern was the agency appeared to be flying blind and not consulting its own specialists and even the literature that was available," he says.

Reports last week suggest the dispersants have entered both the ecosystem and human food chains via blue crab larvae. But if that's not how the dispersants end up killing us - don't worry. They still will.

Full article here (The Guardian)

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