Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers have mapped a snaking, 22-mile-long underwater oil plume from the BP PLC well in the Gulf of Mexico, work they say provides strong evidence that oil from the disaster could remain trapped deep in the ocean for a prolonged period.
The study published yesterday is based on sensitive measurements in late June, and the findings contrast with recent statements by top government officials that most of the oil from the world’s largest marine spill was gone or rapidly degrading.
By the Woods Hole researchers’ calculations, the plume probably still exists today, but government officials said their more recent observations indicate the oil is quickly being degraded by microbes.
Full Story: Woods Hole says oil trapped deep, degrading very slowly – The Boston Globe
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