OIL SPILL MAY MAKE DEAD ZONE DEADER

Undersea Oil Adrift in Gulf May Create Oxygen ‘Dead Zones’
Jessica Resnick-Ault, May 31, 2010 (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

"The millions of gallons of oil leaking from a broken well a mile under the Gulf of Mexico may create oxygen-depleting dead zones below the ocean, killing sea life and upsetting the region’s ecology for decades, scientists say.

"BP Plc’s oil spill, the biggest in U.S. history, has been sprayed with 950,000 gallons of chemicals on the surface and near the seabed to dissolve the oil into water. The amount of dispersants used is unprecedented and the behavior of the dissolved oil unknown, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson has said…"

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"A government team appointed by the Coast Guard estimates oil has been spilling from the well at a rate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. That could increase as much as 20 percent when BP makes its next attempt to control the leak by sawing off a damaged pipe. Within the week, BP plans to reconnect the pipe and funnel oil to a ship on the surface…Even if BP succeeds, long-term damage to the Gulf ecosystem is unavoidable…"

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"Marine biologists are worried the oil will kill off fragile organisms, such as shrimp and fish larvae and plankton, a critical part of the offshore food chain…Fish can also suffocate if their gills are coated with crude.

"Microbes in the sea that feed on oil seeping from the seabed are expected to consume most of the underwater oil from the leak…[but in] such a big oil spill, that may bring its own problems…Populations of oil-gorged microbes could expand rapidly, consuming oxygen needed by other sea life and creating 'dead zones.'"