Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes

Source: NY Times

Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: May 28, 2010

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The stakes were high. Two weeks earlier, when some of these scientists had disclosed evidence of undersea oil plumes, their claim had been greeted skeptically by the government. The scientists’ credibility was on the line.

If the plumes did exist, much of the wisdom about combating oil spills might need to be reconsidered. The plumes would suggest that any future oil leak in deep water could be expected to do much of its damage in the sea, not on shore.

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After a slow start, American science is finally beginning to tackle the oil disaster in earnest. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency charged with monitoring the health of the oceans, is sending multiple boats into the gulf. The National Science Foundation, another arm of the government, is issuing rapid grants to finance academic teams, including the one aboard the Walton Smith. BP, the oil company responsible for the spill, has pledged $500 million for research. And scientists like those aboard the Walton Smith are getting emergency financing from the government for their studies.

-snip-

It will take weeks of laboratory work to confirm with certainty that the plumes are made of oil droplets, or more likely, some complex mixture of oil and natural gas. If that idea holds up, the existence of these undersea plumes may well turn out to be the major scientific discovery of the great oil spill of 2010.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/science/earth/29plume.html

:wtf: What is it with this bullshit legalese lingo? How about using SCIENCE terminology and call it a hypothesis and then letting us know what observations they are makings and what experiments they can to to confirm the hypothesis? Cases are for courtrooms, which will be long, long after the well is capped, the crude that can be captured is recovered, and the rest is remediated. Not to belabor the point, but those three activities will require SCIENCE and engineers who are grounded in it to make it work.

Lawyers and accounts will bring about the end of America; the accountants can value what's left of the estate, and the lawyers can probate it.

Thanks for the thread, highplainsdem.

they should have been there day 3 at the latest goddamit - well there for sure is NO excuse staying docked after 1st plume sighting - one week in iirc :nuke:

The no-new-estimate + no plume measurement + no Corexit ENFORCEMENT says it all, sorry. Liability minimising collusion.

I don't know what I would do if I were over there. I'm half a world a way and I'm pissed off like hell.

My thoughts go out to all those concerned
:hug: