BP's solution for the spill, chemical dispersants, may make things worse

Are the chemical dispersants BP's using in the Gulf oil spill a cosmetic solution? "Dispersants decrease the amount of oil that directly reaches the shores or the creatures that live on the shores or sea surface. But they increase the exposure to oil by creatures that live in the water or on the sea floor -- like, say, shrimp or oysters."

• [Cigarsam]

  Well, if oil is dispersed close to shore I would take this as a serious concern in this case. However, since both shrimp and oysters are shallow water species,and the dispersants are largely being used far out to sea where the loop current will dilute the remnants and take them away from the Louisiana marshes, this seems like a good use of them to me.

• [dainel]

  They’re using booms to corral the oil, increase it’s concentration, and then remove or burn it. At the same time they’re using chemical dispersants. It would seem counterproductive to do two opposing things at the same time. Shouldn’t the dispersants be used as the last step. After all the oil that can be removed has been removed, and there’s just a little bit left. After no more oil is being added to the spill.

• [Anonymous]

  This chemical that BP wants to wash the beaches with, it wouldn’t happen to be green?

• [anansi133]

  Even if the dispersant makes things harder on the environment, it makes things easier for BP: they get to deny any oil that can’t be seen.

  This is what happens when you limit the liability that a company can face, without limiting the harm that it can do.

• [Anonymous]

  I am watching the news about BP and I don’t understand why there is no way to stop the oil leak until the relief wells are completed in Aug. Would a few special capped bombs sink to the bottom and ignite it near the well will work? This way the side pressure from the explosion will close the well.

• [sapere_aude]

  I seem to recall reading (forgive me, but I can’t recall off the top of my head where or when I read it) that about a decade after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska they did an environmental study to see how effective the cleanup efforts were. They compared beaches that had been cleaned up after the oil spill to beaches that had not been cleaned up. Much to their surprise, they discovered that the beaches that had not been cleaned up were actually healthier than the ones that had been cleaned up: not because oil spills are good for the environment, of course; but because the cleanup efforts actually caused more harm than good.

  That’s the problem with trying to tinker with complex ecosystems: It’s hard to avoid the law of unintended consequences. Perhaps it would be best if they just concentrated on plugging the leak, and then let nature repair the environmental damage in its own way, and in its own due course. The situation is bad enough already; but I worry that efforts to clean up the mess are only going to make matters worse in the long run.

  But, of course, neither BP nor the U.S. government can just sit by and watch while an ecological disaster happens without doing anything to try and fix it and clean up the mess. That would be bad PR.

• [Anonymous]

  Years ago when I worked in the marine petroleum dispensing industry, a boat captain showed me the easy way to get rid of a slick caused by spilled gasoline – squirt it with dish soap. Sure enough, the slick “disappeared”.

• [Anonymous]

  ANyone who doesn’t, should know that a “dispersant” is just a powerful industrial strength detergent that works in salt water. It causes the oil to mix into the water where it poisons fish and other marine biota. Without dispersant detergent/surfactants, the oil would have to be left where people could see and smell it. It would kill many animals in the immediate area. With these chemicals, the poisons can be spread throughout the water column and can kill far more, for far longer periods. If they are felt by industry professionals to make the oil spill less visible, then they will be used in ever larger quantities ,often as an replacement for proper safety practices.