New research has found an oily “bathtub ring” the size of Rhode Island on the Gulf of Mexico’s seafloor, reported The Huffington Post. BP is denying that the oil came from them in another attempt to shirk accountability for its crime.
The study was conducted David Valentine, a geochemistry professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara and chief scientist on the federal damage assessment research ships. Valentine’s research estimated approximately 10 million gallons of oil on the Gulf’s floor in the Deepwater Horizon’s proximity.
Because the oil has degraded over the last four years, Valentine notes, there was no chemical signature but it’s still telling the source of the oil.
“There’s this sort of ring where you see around the Macondo well where the concentrations are elevated,” said Valentine, who also noted that oil levels inside the ring were 10,000 times higher than outside it.
Naturally, though, BP is questioning the study as spokesperson Jason Ryan said in an email that “the authors failed to identify the source of the oil, leading them to grossly overstate the amount of residual Macondo oil on the seafloor and the geographic area in which it is found.”
Scientists mention that other evidence including depth of the oil, how it’s laid out, and proximity to the well indicate that the BP rig is that source. The study also validates early research showing that the BP oil spill coated and effected deep-water coral. Many times has BP tried to downplay the damage caused by its recklessness.
Spokesperson Geoff Morrell wrote an article in defense of the company. The article has many holes, and was an arrogant attempt to remove itself from a horrific tragedy that killed 11 people and countless amounts of plant and animal life.
The science will find a way to connect BP to the gigantic ring of oil, and BP will scrape to find a way to excuse itself from that too.
