Oil spills are ecological disasters. Whether it’s the oil itself or the dispersants used to break up the slick, spills wreak environmental havoc on marine life, shore life and human life. But hydrocarbon-chewing microbes could reduce the havoc and the danger.
Nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants have been used in the Gulf of Mexico to break up the gushing oil. This is the first time they have been used below the ocean surface, as much as a mile deep at the broken well. Many of the country's leading
David Michaels, the Assistant Secretary for Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, talks about what his agency is doing to ensure worker safety in the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists trying to understand how the mixture of chemical dispersants and oil affect the Gulf say they can't get samples of the dispersant Corexit they need to do their work.
The Environmental Protection Agency has given BP 24 hours to find a less toxic chemical dispersant to break up the oil gushing from their ruined pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. However, many experts wonder if dispersants should be used at all.