The Daily Glob

Scientists Wary of US Report Saying Only 26% of Spilled Gulf Oil Left

"Some scientists are voicing doubts about the accuracy of an Aug. 4 intergovernmental agency report asserting that just 26 percent of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil released from BP's ruptured wellhead remains to be dealt with onshore and at sea." Aimee Miles reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune August 17, 2010.

"Scientists Raise Queries About Gulf Oil Left Behind"

"Two new scientific reports on Tuesday raised fresh fears about the environmental fallout from the world's worst offshore oil spill and questioned government assurances that most of the oil from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico was already gone.

"Much Oil Remains in Gulf, Researchers Estimate"

"Researchers at the University of Georgia said Monday that more than three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon drilling-rig explosion could still be in the Gulf threatening fisheries and marine life, disputing government statements that much of the oil had been safely dispersed.

NOAA Chief Confirms She Tried to Squelch Underwater Plume Reports

Federal officials from the Coast Guard and NOAA now confirm what Gulf researchers have charged -- that they tried to squelch initial reports of massive underwater oil plumes emanating from the blown out Deepwater Horizon well.

"Administration Overly Optimistic About Fate of Spilled Oil"

"The Obama administration on Wednesday delivered an upbeat verdict on the fate of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil  that spewed out of BP's blown out well in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that most of it has either been dispersed, burned off, skimmed up, directly recaptured through containment efforts, evaporated or dissolved.

"Dead Zone in the Gulf one of the Largest Ever"

"NEW ORLEANS — Scientists say this year that the 'dead zone' area that forms every summer in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest ever measured.

"Gulf Spill Is the Largest of Its Kind, Scientists Say"

"NEW ORLEANS — The BP spill is by far the world's largest accidental release of oil  into marine waters, according to the most precise estimates yet of the well's flow rate, announced by federal scientists on Monday. "

Campbell Robertson and Clifford Krauss report for the New York Times August 2, 2010.

"On the Surface, Gulf Oil Spill Is Vanishing Fast; Concerns Stay"

"The oil  slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

"Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Beg For A Chance To Take Basic Measurements"

"A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended to definitively measure how much oil has spilled and where and how it is spreading throughout the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. An all-star team of top oceanographers, chemists, engineers and other scientists could be ready to head out to the well site on two fully-equipped research vessels on about a week's notice. But they need to get the go-ahead -- and about $8.4 million -- from BP or the federal government or both. And that does not appear imminent." Dan Froomkin reports for Huffington Post July 6, 2010.

"Markey: BP 'Lying or Grossly Incompetent' on Worst-Case Scenario"

"A key Democratic lawmaker revealed an internal BP document  on Sunday showing that the embattled oil giant's worst-case scenario projected that 100,000 barrels of oil could be released each day that the well remains uncapped." BP denied underestimating the spill.