By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: May 19, 2010
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The administration acknowledges that its scientific resources are stretched by the disaster, but contends that it is moving to get better information, including a more complete picture of the underwater plumes.
“We’re in the early stages of doing that, and we do not have a comprehensive understanding as of yet of where that oil is,” Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator, told Congress on Wednesday. “But we are devoting all possible resources to understanding where the oil is and what its impact might be.”
The administration has mounted a huge response to the spill, deploying 1,105 vessels to try to skim oil, burn it and block it from shorelines. As part of the effort, the federal government and the Gulf Coast states have begun an extensive effort to catalog any environmental damage to the coast. The Environmental Protection Agency is releasing results from water sampling near shore. In most places, save for parts of Louisiana, the contamination appears modest so far.
The big scientific question now is what is happening in deeper water. While it is clear that water samples have been taken, the results have not been made public.
Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told Congress on Wednesday that she was pressing for the release of additional test results, including some samples taken by boats under contract to BP.
link(NOAA) Response to date - Total response vessels: 950
- Containment Boom deployed: over 1.36 million feet
- Containment boom available: nearly 350,000 feet
- Sorbent boom deployed: over 480,000 feet
- Sorbent boom available: over 800,000 feet
- Boom deployed: over 1.8 million feet (regular plus sorbent boom)
- Boom available: over 1.15 million feet (regular plus sorbent boom)
- Oily water recovered: more than 7.65 million gallons
- Dispersant used: over 590,000 gallon
s
- Dispersant available: more than 300,000 gallons
- Overall personnel responding: more than 20,000
- 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines
EPA Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico