Although BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico is finally capped, work continues to determine the full extent of the effects of the oil on gulf ecosystems.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a research vessel, the Pisces, currently deployed to track deep-water oil in the Gulf. A crew of 24 plus nine scientists from Texas A&M University and the University of California at Santa Barbara are onboard. They are taking samples to test for oil and methane, as well as experimenting with oil-eating bacteria. A daily log of their activities is available on NOAA’s Web site at missionlog.noaa.gov.
The EPA is also posting ongoing results of its sampling of air, water, and sediment at www.epa.gov/bpspill.
We will have an article on some of the ongoing efforts in the upcoming November/December issue of Stormwater, as well as interviews with some of those who provided equipment and services for the cleanup efforts in the early days of the oil leak.