In August, US officials claimed that 75% of the oil had vanished. Today, the Oil Spill Commission was told that "over 50 percent of the total discharge" remains in the Gulf, still embedded in the ecosystem and on the ocean floor.
His assessment implied some 2.5 million barrels of oil -- or 105 million gallons -- was still embedded in the fragile ecosystem, out of the estimated 4.9 million barrels that gushed into the Gulf during the 87 days before the well was capped.
"Much of it is now buried in marine and coastal sediments," MacDonald warned, adding there was "scant evidence for bacterial degradation of this material prior to burial."
While the oil might not be clearly visible now, MacDonald warned that "any storm event tends to resuspend them."
continued at Daily Kos...
