Approximately 80 percent of oil released in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon disaster remains, finds a report released yesterday by the University of Georgia and Georgia Sea Grant.
Five scientists from various scientific institutes analyzed data from an Aug. 2 National Incident Command report, which stated that only 25 percent of of the oil from the estimated 4.9 million barrel spill remained in the water.
“One major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless,” said Charles Hopkinson, director of Georgia Sea Grant and professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia in a statement. “The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are.”
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
