Dispersant 'May Make Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill More Toxic'

Great! Good news! Damn it!

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Scientists fear chemicals used in oil clean-up can cause genetic mutations and cancer, and threaten sea turtles and tuna
by Suzanne Goldenberg

Chemicals used to break up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill before it reaches shore could do lasting damage to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, environmental scientists say.

By BP's own account, it has mobilised a third of the world's supply of dispersant, so far pouring about 140,000 gallons (637,000 litres) of the cocktail into the Gulf as of today. Some of the dispersant has been injected directly into the source of the spill on the ocean floor, a technique never deployed before, deepening concerns about further damage to the environment.

A dispersant plane passes over an oil skimmer as it cleans oil from a leaking pipeline that resulted from last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, April 27, 2010.

The dispersants are designed to break down crude into tiny drops, which can be eaten up by naturally occurring bacteria, to lessen the impact of a giant sea of crude washing on to oyster beds and birds' nests on shore. But environmental scientists say the dispersants, which can cause genetic mutations and cancer, add to the toxicity of the spill. That exposes sea turtles and bluefin tuna to an even greater risk than crude alone. Dolphins and whales have already been spotted in the spill.The dangers are even greater for dispersants poured into the source of the spill, where they are picked up by the current and wash through the Gulf.

The high demand for dispersant carries an additional risk. As BP runs through stocks of the chemical, called Corexit, scientists fear it will fall back on older stockpiles in the developing world that are more toxic than those approved for use in the US. "You are trying to mitigate the volume of the spill with dispersant, but the price you pay is increased toxicity," said Richard Charter, a scientific adviser to Defenders of Wildlife. "There are no good answers in a mess of this size."

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Gulf Oil Spill: First Leak Capped, Says BP
BP has managed to seal the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the company says.

Oil is still gushing into the sea at a rate of about 800,000 litres a day, but officials say working with only two leaks makes tackling the spill easier.

Remote-controlled submarines are being used to guide a specially-constructed dome into place to try to stem the main leaks.

Engineers plan to deploy the 100-tonne dome over the site on Thursday.
BP has never deployed such a structure at a depth of 5,000ft (1,500m) and difficulties may occur, it says. The deployment is expected to take more than two days.

Describing the cap, coast guard officer David Mosley told AP news agency: "It doesn't lessen the flow, it just simplifies the number of leak points they have to address."

The spill was set off by an explosion that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and killed 11 workers off Louisiana last month.

If the operation goes well, the dome could start funnelling the oil into a tanker early next week.
A sheen of oil has already reached the shore in parts of Louisiana but officials say coagulated crude oil is not expected to reach coastal areas until the end of the week, AFP reports.

BP has told members of a US congressional committee that up to 9.5 million litres a day could spill if the leaks worsen, AP notes.