Image by SkyTruth via FlickrThe oil flow may have stopped flowing but the environmental disaster lives on. Environmental expert Rick Steiner believes that the oil spilled into the Gulf during the Deepwater Horizon disaster may have caused permanent damage to the ecosystem. Steiner and top NOAA official David Kennedy believe sheer volume of oil spilled is at the heart of the grim prognosis.
Approximately 4 million barrels of oil were poured into the Gulf of Mexico during the four month long gusher. Many scientists believe that BP’s heavy use of the chemical dispersant, made long term ecosystem damage worse.
Senior Washington Correspondent for the Huffington Post, Dan Froomkin said, “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is hoarding vast amounts of raw data that independent marine researchers say could help both the public and scientists better understand the extent of the damage being caused by the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico”
BP has been hiding data since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010. Just days after the disaster took eleven lives, BP officials persuaded an unknown number of scientists with lucrative contracts designed to block the public release of environmental and public health and safety data.
In a recent Fox 8 News interview, Louisiana Plaquemines Parish President, Billy Nungesser said he was demanding federal involvement when it comes to testing the waters in the parish hit by heavy oil. “We’ve never seen so many species floating in so many different areas. I’m begging the E.P.A., or somebody,” he said, “I’m begging them to do their job, get out there and let’s test and see what the hell is going on in the water.”
P.J. Hahn, the Director the Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Management Department, is also deeply concerned about the implications from the numbers of dead fish now floating to the surface in Louisiana waters.
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