Reports have discussed whether BP's use of dispersants simply transferred damage from the more visible onshore wildlife to underwater critters to hide the disaster. Add into the deadly oil mess the methane, methanol, and the "drilling fluids [that] add their own frightening recipe to the disaster: arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, barite, fluoride, chrome lignosulfonate, vanadium, copper, aluminum, chromium, zinc, radionuclides, and other heavy metals." The EPA estimates that drilling fluids will remain a "threat to the seafloor and surrounding waters for up to 40 years."
BP has been quite successful in covering up so much of the environmental damages by restricting media access, buying scientists, and fudging/hiding/nondisclosing the facts. But the Smithsonian Museum has the data to prove some of the unseen underwater damages and a means to monitor recovery.
continued at Daily Kos...
