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'Just Not True': White House Accused of Spinning Report
Scientists say it is 'just not true' that the vast majority of oil from the BP spill has gone
The White House was accused today of spinning a government scientific report into the amount of oil left in the Gulf of Mexico from the BP spill which had officials declaring that the vast majority of the oil had been removed.
While the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been capped, experts claim up to 75% of it is still in the water. (Ho/REUTERS) As BP workers finished pouring cement into the well as a first step to permanently sealing it today, environmental groups and scientists - including those working with government agencies to calculate the scale and effects of the spill - said White House officials had painted far too optimistic a picture of a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) into the fate of the oil.
"Recent reports seem to say that about 75% of the oil is taken care of and that is just not true," said John Kessler, of Texas A&M University, who led a National Science Foundation on-site study of the spill. "The fact is that 50% to 75% of the material that came out of the well is still in the water. It's just in a dissolved or dispersed form."
With work progressing on the final phase of the "static kill" sealing of the well, Thad Allen, the Obama administration's top official on the spill, told reporters there would be no new oil in the Gulf.
But those assurances failed to satisfy scientists and environmental groups, who disputed the claim by Carol Browner, the White House energy and climate adviser, that "the vast majority of oil is gone".
In Louisiana, state wildlife officials told CNN that tar balls and patches of oil were still washing up in the marshes and coastal areas of St Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes.
Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist and director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, said the White House had been too quick to declare the oil was gone. "The blanket statement that the public understood is that most of the oil has disappeared. That is not true. About 50% of it is still in the water," she said.
Like other scientists, she said the report failed to explain how it reached its estimates on the amount of oil that was biodegraded naturally, or dispersed with chemicals. "There are a lot of unanswered questions."
Even the White House's own estimates still left a spill five times the size of that from the Exxon Valdez, she said, with long-term consequences that would be unknown for years to come.
Terry Hazen, the head of ecology at the Lawrence Berkeley national laboratory, who studied the spill for Noaa, said his teams could find no trace of oil on the surface or in the deep between 2km and 100km from the well site last week.
"Whatever was put into the environment, it is undetectable in the water column and the surface of water," he said. But he added: "That is not true though in the marshes or on some of the shorelines. We do know there is still oil out there."
He also said there were potential weaknesses in the analysis because of NOAA's assumptions about the size of the spill.
"When they do all of the inventories trying to estimate all of the oil and where it went there is pretty wide margins of estimates of how much was actually coming out of the well head," he said. "That complicates everything."
However, such nuances were overshadowed by the White House, which staged a high-profile event on Wednesday to announce that the well had stopped flowing, and that the consequences of the spill were not as catastrophic as once feared.
Francesca Griffo, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the White House had stepped on more nuanced statements from NOAA scientists. "When these reports go through the spin machine they get distorted," she said. "If you look closely at this report, it makes it very clear that this is not over."
Rick Steiner, a former University of Alaska marine biologist, suggested that the White House had been too eager to try to put the oil spill behind it, with Democrats in Congress facing tough election fights in November.
"It seems that there was a rush to declare this done, and there were obvious political objectives there," he said. "Even if there is not a drop of oil out there, and it had truly magically vanished, it would still be an environmental disaster caused by the toxic shock of the release of 5m barrels of oil."
27 Comments so far
Show AllI know someone who flies regularly out of Miami. He said it's in the Gulf Stream! You can see it!
This is my question, too...
obviously, the Gulf Stream should have been sweeping underwater plumes past the southern tip of Florida and on up the Atlantic seaboard for quite some time...
I'm clear out in Seattle...are folks finding oil on the Atlantic side, and the news simply being squashed?
The power to control information on this scale is impressive, and daunting...
I vaguely recall a report that some scientists had concluded that the prescence of all that oil in the Gulf Stream had already begun slowing the flow of the Gulf Stream.
In essence this could well lead to Colder winters in West Europe. Now before people who claim this PROOF there no Global warming, Science HAS claimed that WITH warming the Gulf Stream would be at threat which paradoxically would lead to "Cooling" in certain areas.
A Russian scientist was flown in to assess the damage. The US Governmnet forced him to sign forms wherein he agreed his findings would not be made available to the public.
So why is such secrecy needed if The Adminsitration tells the truth?
Isn't that borderline unconstitutional? Our government abridging free speech. I can see it in REAL cases of national security but so .gov can coverup the truth. This is B.S.
Political objectives = Campaign contributions. Ohbummer and Co. will sell the poor souls in the Gulf " a pig in a poke " disguised as dispersant. Good luck with getting to the bottom of this catastrophe: the oil well " fix " is already in. Whodda thunk?
Surprise, Obomber works for Big Oil.
He represents their special interests in the Gulf and around the world. And the U.S. Congress of Obamacrats and Repugnants also suck up to their Big Oil corporate masters.
The illegal wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan are designed to subsidize future profits of energy corporations. This has become public debt for private profit and an endless series of war crimes. Everything America has done to Iraq and Afghanistan comprise a war crime of epic proportions.
Unfortunately these criminal corporate schemes implemented by our government exploit millions of people both in the U.S. and around the world as well as damaging the environment in many ways.
Try to boycott Big Oil products whenever possible. I refuse to use BP or Exxon products. They both have oil contracts in Iraq. Etc. Etc.
In the deepening darkness beneath the ObamaBush, the twinhood of DemocRat and GOPorker flares bright as fire, its flames consuming the last remnants of our once-vaunted liberty.
There is a possible cover-up of dead marine and wildlife. Search Mother Nature News AND Death Gyre.
Since when is it a surprise that the Three Stooges: Barry, Larry (Summers)and Tim (Geithner) are lying for their paymasters BP, Goldman Sachs or any other corporation?
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
The dispersant, which is more toxic than the oil itself, has, along with some weathering, broken oil particles down to a size that can be consumed by the tiny larvae of crabs, shrimp and fish. While fully grown animals were more easily able in some cases to flee the toxic miasmas of oil and dispersant, the larval and smaller animals may try to consume particles of the oil and dispersant and thus gradually build toxic concentrations of it in the food chain as larger and more mature animals gradually consume the larval and smaller animals. This may take a while to work its way up the food chain, but once it does, it may be the "gift that keeps on giving" in terms of toxicity. Scientists don't fully understand the impact of a spill this size--and one contaminated by millions of gallons of toxic dispersants--on a sessile marine food chain spread out this large across several States' coastal areas.
So the irony is that many of the fully grown food animals may be testing as safe to eat now, but once the oil and dispersant has worked its way up the food chain they may not test safe over time and the duration of this unsafe phase is unknown, as is its long-term impact on birds, reptiles and other species in the chain.
Now, metal, such foresight and wisdom won't get you that special invite to the White House dinner when the U.S. Energy Commission presents our President with the Conservationist of the Year Award in 2011.
And Creator ushered in Creation and suddenly it was Friday.
Time flies while your having fun. As usual I won my bets that I made that the Europeans wouldn't have the problems of their Nation solved or something they called Saving the Earth accomplished yet.
I wasn't laying any bets in Vegas they'd have the problems of their Nation all solved by next Friday or the "Earth" all "Saved" either.
I did know they certainly weren't going to go out into the wilderness and live upon Creator's earth without their money and stores like the Tribes used to live upon Creator's earth.
So their world is here. The bills come in and need to be paid. The planet orbits. Creator watches. Creator listens.
Life is good. What an experience! It's always best to forgive.
"Honey! Look! Rover just dropped a wicked smelly BIG-DUTE right by the door on the rug! What should we do? Our customers will be here soon!"
"Relax, Poochie. Here's the broom. Just sweep it under the rug. We'll be leaving this hotel room after the event. No one will know while we're here. Let the next occupant worry. We'll be long gone. Hotel owners expect things like this. PHEW, it does stink!"
I had hoped that with the election of President Obama, things would change for the better, re: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, but unfortunately he seems no more than a miniature Bush ! If this type of hush-hush is true over the oil leak I am afraid there is little hope for much change. I think that was proven with the creation of a 99% watered down version of a health care bill. There is still no true medicare for the average American. Canada's system may be far from perfect, but it is light-years ahead of the one recently introduced in the USA.
Your hopes that things would change for the better with the election of Obama were based on your belief that the Democrats are better than the Republicans. Both of our two major political parties are owned and operated by the corporations. These corporations like the wars, don't want a health care system without them making nice profits, and the love the bonuses the banksters enjoy.
Obama is not a minature Bush. He is a fully developed Bush clone who is successfully continuing the Bush policies---including secret prisons, use of torture, lack of rights to a trial if accused of being a terrorist. No trial, you just get put on a hit list and you are offed. No questions asked.
Profits are up for the corporations as workers get laid off so that those who still have a job work harder and never complain about wages or conditions. THey willing work overtime for free. Full time ass kissing to keep the lousy job.
Doesn't make me proud to be an American. War after war. A new one before the last one ends. Our wars never end. Our troops never come home.
You made a mistake by voting for a member of either of the Democrats or the Republicans. I hope you have learned a lesson and will never do that again!!
Get rid of the corporate lackeys and maybe we can use our tax funds to serve the needs of the people and to protect our environment, instead of enriching the already wealthy.
Once again we see from this White House, a display of the entropy of misinformation. There is something about all politicians which allows them to thrive on disorder and the easiest way to create it is to lie. This administration, like the one that preceeded it, is characterized by rampant mythomania. Indeed, it is even willing to lie when simply telling the truth would be easier. It is long past the time that we should believe any statement issued by this White House or promulgated through the equally dishonest media.
BP supplies the US military, the largest consumer of oil products in the country. Obama won't be able to run his war machine without them. It stinks.
h4020
“There is something about all politicians which allows them to thrive on disorder and the easiest way to create it is to lie.”
Yes, and every day the partnership among government, corporations, the military and the religious right gets stronger;as Arthur Silber reminds "in our corporatist-authoritarian system, the ruling class always wins".
Meanwhile- it is indeed long past the time that we should believe any statement issued by this White House or promulgated through the equally dishonest media.
Obama has nothing to worry about.
If a hurricane sweeps through that kill zone and makes land, it will trigger another, even bigger hard news cycle that obliterates BP's current "best" efforts to shape the public's perception of events.
But here's the kicker - then, if the spill winds its way around the tip of Florida and works its way up the east coast, yet another rash of bad news stories will emerge and spread like wild fire to relegate the events in the Gulf to secondary news status.
Week after week, as the spill dishes out its brutal truth on the east coast, there will be so many bad news stories - more on-going hard news than 9/11, that nobody will have the time or inclination to consider impeachment or how we deluded ourselves.
If you believe as I do, that there is at least one other huge leak out there that BP and the Coast Guard will not acknowledge, the bad news will never stop until the real leak(s) are capped.
In the meantime, the current administration will exploit the torrential flood of bad news by using it as political cover against an investigation of its mishandling of the Gulf Spill. Ironically, this crises will present endless opportunities for Obama to look presidential and responsive, thereby offsetting attacks on his leadership and competency.
Obama has nothing to worry about.
They say he's been sneaking away to the CSR (covert smoking room) more frequently lately. This could indicate concern that something big is brewing.
They should've called Corexit a disappearant instead of a dispersant.
IMO this one is Obama's fault. He's too anxious to declare "yet another problem resolved." Frankly I'd have let this hang til November.
dubet---george orwell.
i live along the gulf in an area to date unaffected. everyday i watch a bp public relations ad, a gulf resident assuring us "we'll be here till the clean up job is completed."
hm, i wonder if his grandkids know that their life's work has been locked in?
There is a big difference between "nonapparent" oil in the Gulf and "disappeard" oil in the Gulf. Government sources should not be so quick to claim "mission accomplished" until we/they take the time to see what the long term situation and effect on the Gulf environment turns out to be.