infrogmation | Entries tagged with toxic

Links to more new articles on the continuing effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mother Jones: BP's Corexit Oil Tar Sponged Up by Human Skin Excerpts:

"Sadly, things aren't getting cleaner faster, according to their results. The Corexit that BP used to "disperse" the oil now appears to be making it tougher for microbes to digest the oil. [...] The persistence of Corexit mixed with crude oil has now weathered to tar, yet is traceable to BP's Deepwater Horizon brew through its chemical fingerprint. [...] Worse, the toxins in this unholy mix of Corexit and crude actually penetrate wet skin faster than dry skin [...] The stuff can't be wiped off. It's absorbed into the skin. And it isn't going away. "

"The use of Corexit is inhibiting the microbial degradation of hydrocarbons in the crude oil and has enabled concentrations of the organic pollutants known as PAH to stay above levels considered carcinogenic by the NIH and OSHA.
26 of 32 sampling sites in Florida and Alabama had PAH concentrations exceeding safe limits.
Only three locations were found free of PAH contamination.
Carcinogenic PAH compounds from the toxic tar are concentrating in surface layers of the beach and from there leaching into lower layers of beach sediment. This could potentially lead to contamination of groundwater sources. "

AlJazeera: Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists

Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause.

"Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp - and interviewees' fingers point towards BP's oil pollution disaster as being the cause.

According to Kuhns, at least 50 per cent of the shrimp caught in that period in Barataria Bay, a popular shrimping area that was heavily impacted by BP's oil and dispersants, were eyeless. Kuhns added: "Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets."

"Some shrimpers are catching these out in the open Gulf [of Mexico]," she added, "They are also catching them in Alabama and Mississippi. We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don't have their usual spikes... they look like they've been burned off by chemicals."

Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs "with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within... they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they've been dead for a week".

Rooks is also finding eyeless shrimp, shrimp with abnormal growths, female shrimp with their babies still attached to them, and shrimp with oiled gills.

"We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills." "

Gambit Weekly: The oil disaster, two years later: seafood, human health in jeopardy Covers some of the same material plus a couple more details.

Times-Picayune: Oil spill plugged, but more oiled birds than ever are being found

"Before BP plugged the well with a temporary cap on July 15, an average of 37 oiled birds were being collected dead or alive each day. Since then, the figure has nearly doubled to 71 per day, according to a Times-Picayune review of daily wildlife rescue reports.

"The figures for sea turtles have climbed even higher, with more oiled turtles recovered in the past 10 days than during the spill's first three months."

CNN: In the Gulf, scientific questions still lurk beneath the surface

"When Ed Overton looks at the remains of what's happened to the Gulf of Mexico over the past few months, he sees a stale, unsolved crime scene.

""We can see the beaches; we can see the dead animals; we can get a count on turtles and whales and all this stuff -- and all of that is eye-level observation," said Overton, a professor emeritus at Louisiana State University and a veteran of oil-spill science. "What we don't know is what damage is done ... to little creatures down below the surface -- or just at the surface -- that we never see."

"If the larvae of a vulnerable fish species like the bluefin tuna are completely wiped it, it may not matter that many of the adults appear to have survived."

Huffington Post: Scientists Find Evidence That Oil And Dispersant Mix Is Making Its Way Into The Foodchain

"We're looking at long-term ecological effects of having this oil in contact with marine organisms."

"Dispersant doesn't make the oil go away, it just puts it from one part of the ecosystem into another. The decision was to keep as much of the oil subsurface as possible. As a result, the immediate impact on coastal wildlife was mitigated. But the effects on ocean life are less clear -- in part because there's less known about ocean ecosystems than coastal ones."

Tampa Tribune: Beach beauty is skin-deep

"University of South Florida professor estimates cleanup work along Panhandle beaches and elsewhere across the Gulf Coast has removed only about 25 percent of the oil that has stained the shorelines."

Florida Panhandle officials notice "what looks like a congealed glob of Vaseline that is hovering just offshore".

Veterans Today: Disappearing Oil and Gulf Seafood: Passing the Sniff Test

HuffPost: Oilgate! BP and All the President's Men (Except One) Seek to Contain Truth of Leak in the Gulf

BK Kim, Newsvine: Why is BP's Macondo blowout so disastrous & Beyond Patch-up.

Deepwater Horizon Response:26 July Press Briefing
According to Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, "we're going to have tar balls and other kind of impacts are going to go on for a long, long time."

Picayune:Tuesday's list of oiled locations in Louisiana

Example details: St. Bernard Parish fighting tar balls, patch of oil near Chandeleur Islands
"Oil skimmers have been dispatched to fight a large band of tar balls discovered near Comfort Island in St. Bernard Parish, St. Bernard Parish government said today. The patch of tar balls, three to four miles long and about three miles wide, was detected today." "A flyover conducted today also discovered a 10-mile long, quarter-mile wide streamer of emulsified oil about three miles off the northern tip of the Chandeleur Islands" "Also today, the Louisiana National Guard collected 28 bags, about 700 pounds, of oily debris on the recently-constructed berm at the Chandeleur Island chain".

Not all officially reported? CNN short video via YouTube:St. Bernard Parish President Taffaro says new oil coming in to Parish marshes every day

Picayune: BP working to increase its ability to contain oil even as plans for 'static kill' move forward

Meanwhile:

WWL: Tug vessel hits abandoned gas well in Barataria Waterway
"A mix of natural gas, contaminated water and light crude oil is spewing 100 feet in the air."

Examiner:BP says top kill mud was toxic: Tony Hayward testimony may now be perjury

Summary of story thus far on Alabama Live: Oil spill Day 100: The Gulf disaster, day by day

Perspective from Roger Ebert: BP's tree fell on my lawn

Good news; former TS Bonnie is fizzling out as a minor depression. Picayune

Meanwhile:

Palm Beach Post: Deep sea plume in Gulf 'changes concept' of an oil spill

"micro-droplets of oil, too small for the human eye, have streamed out from the spill site in plumes, adding a third dimension beyond the smelly slick and glumpy tarballs spreading across the map. [...] University of South Florida researchers said they confirmed that the invisible plumes they detected in May, 50 miles from the well, near the DeSoto Canyon that ferries nutrient-rich deep-sea water to Florida's western shore, did indeed come from the BP spill site."

"At the deepest level, the USF researchers found oil at about 0.75 parts per million. That's less than the 1 part per million that's commonly considered acutely toxic, Hollander said, but he cautioned that exposure time also matters. Some sealife have likely been exposed to those levels of oil for months, potentially making it as damaging as more concentrated oil, he added. The oil droplets could coat fish gills, be eaten by larval fish, or kill fish eggs, he said. As a result, the dispersed oil could have a long-term impact on the Gulf's marine life, he said, a picture that may not be fully understood for years."

Alternet/The Nation: BP Hides Use of Black Prison Labor For Oil Gusher Cleanup

"When the BP oil gusher mess first began, BP hired prison labor in order to reap tax benefits instead of hiring coastal residents whose livelihoods crashed with the explosion of the wellhead. When the community expressed their outrage, BP did not stop the practice of using prison labor. No, apparently BP simply tried to literally cover-up the use of prison labor by changing the clothing worn by the inmates to give the appearance of a civilian workforce."

And on the how the disaster was allowed to happen in the first place front:

Bloomberg: Alarms Were Disabled on Transocean's Gulf Oil Rig

Lubbock Online:Tech scientists hold nothing back in battling effects of Gulf spill

Excerpts:

"Ron Kendall said Tuesday in his office at Texas Tech’s Insitute of Environmental & Human Health, the well has already spewed enough oil to coat ecosystems all along the Gulf Coast."

"As one of the world’s foremost experts, even Kendall can’t wrap his mind around it. The Exxon Valdez back in 1989 — he was there in Alaska helping to clean up the wrecked tanker’s 11-million-gallon mess. This current spill, he continued, is exponentially more tragic. An Exxon Valdez roughly every four or five days for months. “It’s unbelievable,” Kendall said. “It’s still unfolding. This is a catastrophe of enormous proportions. To me, this is the biggest environmental toxicology experiment we’ve ever conducted.”"

[on the surface] "“It’s so thick. It’s like chocolate mousse,” he said, referring to just the fraction on the surface, using his hands to demonstrate its weight. “You can’t even pick it up.”

[below the surface] "The oil is suspended in mammoth globs below the surface, out of the reach of the best natural dispersant — the sun. The temperatures at those depths are basically preserving the giant globs “like a giant refrigerator.” “I think (the plumes are) the beast that we’re going to have to deal with in the future,” he said, especially once more hurricanes and tropical storms stir them."

"Sperm whales. Dolphins. A whole array of bird species. Blue-finned tuna. All have died. Many will join the list of endangered species. And then, of course, there are the turtles. When the turtles ingest the oil, Kendall said, it ravages their throats and stomachs, causing ulcers. Then it destroys their livers along with their immune and nervous systems."

Gambit Weekly's Blog of New Orleans: Today in BP Oil Disaster: Day 92
"Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals says 290 oil-related exposure cases have been reported since the disaster began, including 216 from workers on oil rigs or doing cleanup, and 74 from those living along the coast. Some were reported through the toll-free line via the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, which handled BP’s exposure-related calls. Other reports came from Acadian Ambulance, doctors, clinics and emergency care facilities."

Mother Jones:BP's Secret Ticket Request Line

"For more than a decade, BP has operated a hush-hush phone line that California lawmakers can call to request box seats to NBA games and concerts at the Sacramento stadium named after its West Coast subsidiary."

WDSU:'People Are Getting Sick,' Cleanup Worker Says, Had No Protective Gear

"The work to cleanup the millions of gallons of oil in the Gulf can be hazardous, and one spill worker told WDSU that he has witnessed illness, injury and unsafe working conditions. Jarred Bourgeois is the engineer on a crew ship that carries personnel and supplies to workers out in the Gulf, a far different job than he had when the spill first started."

""It's a lot thicker then you see on TV. It's a lot worse. It's everywhere. The smell is outrageous. People are getting sick all the time. They don't really tell you what it is, why people are getting sick, but they were MedEvac-ing people left and right," Bourgeois said. "I have personally dealt with headaches and feeling bad. It's a lot different then what you see sitting at the house.""

St. Petersburg FL Times:Scientists from St. Petersburg find high methane readings near oil disaster site

Times-Picayune:Gas seeps not necessarily a problem, because pressure in oil well rising, officials say

Buried lede seeps up 12 paragraphs down:

"Berkeley engineering professor Bob Bea, has very little confidence in what's been said publicly about the seeps. He's troubled that we're just now hearing about seeps three kilometers away, because a survey of the seabed conducted before BP drilled its well didn't indicate anything like that. "There was nothing that indicated the presence of such a seep," Bea said."

WDSU:Group Says EPA Air Tests Not Good Enough - Louisiana Bucket Brigade Finds Fault With Oil Spill Air Quality Tests

AOL News:Why Would BP Photoshop Its Crisis Command Center?

Gizmodo:BP Photoshops Another Official Image Terribly

Picayune:BP suspends relief well work to avoid risk of storm interruption

Picayune:Byproducts of Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup are themselves a concern

"Beyond the oil itself, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is producing an array of oily waste in need of disposal, and at least one environmental group has concerns about how it's being handled. The waste comes from a variety of sources: shoreline clean up, oil containment, boat decontamination."
[...]
"Darryl Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club questioned the system. While none of the waste has been deemed hazardous -- either by BP or in independent tests by the EPA -- Malek-Wiley is skeptical.

"He noted that the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which governs the handling of such materials, exempts certain oil and gas exploration and production wastes from being regulated as hazardous waste.

"So by law, they are not hazardous. In physical reality, they are," Malek-Wiley said."

Oil is apparently now leaking from both the new well cap and multiple places on the sea floor around it. There seems not to be consensus as to how serious this is.

Picayune:BP's Kent Wells: "We're in a good position to not have a catastrophic event"

Is that reassuring?

Picayune:Hearings: BP did not suspend drilling operations after report of leaking blowout preventer

"Federal Regulation 250.451(d) states that if someone drilling in federal waters encounters "a BOP control station or pod that does not function properly" the rig must "suspend further drilling operations until that station or pod is operable.""

BP cares not for the regulations of puny mortals.

Washington Post:Louisiana constructing islands in the gulf to aid in oil cleanup

A look at the sand berms, and their science and politics.

John McCusker:Katrina Meets the Oil Spill

New Orleans photographer compares and contrasts disasters.

WDSU:Millions Of Dead Fish Wash Ashore In Gulfport, Mississippi

"Not Yet Known If Oil Spill Was Factor"

Gee, ya got some likely alternatives lurking offshore?

Apparently oil and methane are now leaking from the ocean floor some distance away from the new well cap. The Sun Herald gives today's lesson on how to bury a lede:BP, feds clash over reopening capped Gulf oil well

"BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again."

Buried lede 4 paragraphs down:

"An administration official familiar with the spill oversight, however, told The Associated Press that a seep and possible methane were found near the busted oil well. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not been made yet. The concern all along - since pressure readings on the cap weren't as high as expected - was a leak elsewhere in the wellbore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix."

Times-Picayune does better: Associated Press says oil may be seeping from BP well

"A federal official said Sunday that scientists are concerned about a seep and possible methane seen near BP's busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Both could be signs there are leaks in the well that's been capped off for three days. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not yet been made."

CS Monitor: Gulf oil spill: Fouling air as well as water?

Um, that has to be a question rather than a statement?

"The EPA says some communities in Louisiana face a 'moderate health risk' due to hydrocarbon fumes from the Gulf oil spill. Researchers will report air quality findings this week."

Two background pieces:

Picayune: Louisiana has always welcomed offshore oil industry, despite dangers

Washington Post puts things a bit more bluntly: Oil spills. Poverty. Corruption. Why Louisiana is America's petro-state.

Latest round up of news links in the BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster.

Huffington Post:BP Oil Spill: 7 Secrets BP Doesn't Want You To Know (PHOTOS)

BP buys up Gulf scientists for legal defense, roiling academic community

Pro Publica: BP Texas Refinery Had Huge Toxic Release Just Before Gulf Blowout

S.F. Chronical:Did BP lobby Libya over Lockerbie bomber?

MSNBC: BP to drill for Libyan oil despite Lockerbie bomber furor

"Did BP trade oil for terrorist's release?"

CS Monitor:How fast will the Gulf bounce back from the BP oil spill?

"Uncertainties abound. Still, the unprecedented use of kerosene dispersants and the deep-water nature of the BP oil spill is littered with unknowns. In localized places such as marshes and beaches, they could stretch the ability of the Gulf's natural restorative powers to correct what one Gulf biologist calls man's "insult" to the ecosystem. Researchers, for example, have spotted fluorescent clouds in the deep Gulf, likely a byproduct of benzene in the water – a new phenomenon."

Natural Resources Defense Council Blog:Air Quality Data for Gulf Workers: More Worrisome Findings

WDSU:Scientists Say Gulf Spill Altering Food Web

Picayune:Giant oil skimmer 'A Whale' deemed a bust for Gulf of Mexico spill

"BP's use of chemical dispersants prevented A Whale, billed as the world's largest skimmer, from collecting a "significant amount" of oil during a week of testing that ended Friday."

Florida Oil Spill Law:BP live feed shows SEEPAGE from crack/fault in seafloor nearby oil gusher; Reported on CNN? (VIDEO)

July 17 BP Briefing: “Bubbles coming from valve” on casing, could be “methane” (VIDEO)

Discovery News: Gulf's Artificial Islands Already Failing

Photos show sand berm island intended to be oil barriers eroding out rapidly, submerging a construction bulldozer. "the man who took these pictures wished to remain nameless, fearing retribution from the governor's [Bobby Jindal] office."

Remarkable account from Sports Illustrated (!): 7 Days In The Life Of A Catastrophe

The Pump Handle, ScienceBlogs.com: Out in the Oil with Captain Dave
Environmental & health concerns

Examiner.com:Gulf oil spill disaster: Media blackout hides critical data on relief wells: Video, photos

WDSU: Fired BP Contractor Claims Photo Flap Led To Dismissal. Former Soldier Blasts Management Of Cleanup Effort

Zerohedge.com: Samples Confirm Corexit Ingredients In Gulf Spill Area Far Above Toxic Concentrations
Toxicologists: Corexit “Ruptures Red Blood Cells, Causes Internal Bleeding”, "Allows Crude Oil To Penetrate “Into The Cells” and “Every Organ System"

WDSU: Gulf Coast Gas Stations Ditching BP Brand

Times-Picayune: Louisiana authorities report oil sightings from Gulf of Mexico spill

The Picayune now doing listings by Parish and by day of where oil is coming ashore.

Huffington Post:BP Commission highlights need for 8/29 Commission

Picayune Video images show new BP cap is on Gulf oil spill gusher

Hope this one works.

WDSU: Slidell Resident Reports Dead Fish In Lake Pontchartrain

Similarly Times-Picayune: Lake Pontchartrain fish kill reported

Click2Houston.com:Tar Mats Discovered In Galveston

"There are two big, black globs of tar scattered along the sand dunes on the west end of Galveston"

Picayune:NOAA seafood assessors are key part of effort to keep tainted fish from consumers

Testing for oil. "Dispersants will also be tested, but only based on the smell and taste tests."

Huffington Post: BP, Governments Downplay Public Health Risk From Oil and Dispersants

Huffington Post:BP Named The Fourth Most Profitable Company In The World

Examiner.com:BP payouts are Keeping Officials Quiet: Hear no Evil, See no Evil

APF: Oil spill claims arriving faster than BP can pay them

AP:EPA: Moderate health concerns with Gulf air

"The EPA says recent air sampling shows a moderate health risk in Venice and Grand Isle, two Louisiana towns about 50 miles from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site."

Picayune: Discovery of second pipe in Deepwater Horizon riser stirs debate among experts

Editorial by Jarvis DeBerry:In Louisiana, politics keeps getting in the way of science

CNN report with video: The oysters are dead

NY Times:Owner of Exploded Rig Is Known for Testing Rules Transocean not looking much better than BP.

Florida Oil Spill Law
Oil disaster blog with lots of interesting links

Detroit Free Press:BP gas station owners switching brands as customers boycott

YouTube video: LAB TESTED Gulf Coast Water Samples are 'VERY TOXIC'
Citizen reporting from Grand Isle. *shudder*

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Page Summary

Spills May Come and Go, But BP Toxic Sludge Keeps On Giving
Are you an oil-covered turtle?
Slick Stuff
Gulf of Mexico: A bit of good news, plus more not so good
Biggest Environmental Toxicology Experiment Ever
Oil Disaster in the Gulf Day 93: Some recent seepage
The Daily Fishkill: Round up the usual suspects
BP Disaster: Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
BP: How Low Can You Go?
Barrell of BP Oil Disaster Links
Gulf Oil Disaster, Day 82 links
The Oysters Are Dead

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The Information Super-Frog

Your cyber-pal way down yonder in New Orleans

Entries tagged with toxic

Spills May Come and Go, But BP Toxic Sludge Keeps On Giving

Are you an oil-covered turtle?

Slick Stuff

Gulf of Mexico: A bit of good news, plus more not so good

Biggest Environmental Toxicology Experiment Ever

Oil Disaster in the Gulf Day 93: Some recent seepage

The Daily Fishkill: Round up the usual suspects

BP Disaster: Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

BP: How Low Can You Go?

Barrell of BP Oil Disaster Links

Gulf Oil Disaster, Day 82 links

The Oysters Are Dead