Scientists say: The Oil is NOT Gone -- even if our Attention spans are

by jamess

How did five million barrels of oil simply disappear?

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs points to a pie chart on the BP oil spill during the Daily White House Press Briefing, Washington, DC.

AFP/ Getty Images

OK there you go -- Only about 26% Residual Oil is left.

"Residual" -- that's like "smoke" -- like the Morning Fog.

That doesn't sound so bad. ... It should be gone in No Time, right?

Don't bet on it.

Even NOAA Administrator, Jane Lubchenco, still has some concerns ...

continued at Daily Kos...

When does 'Mostly Gone' actually mean, 'A LOT is still There'?

by jamess

The oil has gone? Tell that to Gulf coast residents
By Rupert Cornwell, independent.co.uk -- 6 August 2010

And though only a quarter of the 4.9m barrels reckoned to have leaked is still unaccounted, that represents the equivalent of five Exxon Valdez, the tanker whose spill caused an environmental catastrophe in Alaska in 1989.

"There are still boats out there every day working, finding turtles with oil on them and seeing grass lines with oil in it," charter boat captain Randy Boggs, of Orange Beach in Alabama, told the Associated Press. "All the oil isn't accounted for. There are millions of pounds of tar balls and oil on the bottom."

Turns out, This -- TIMES 5 --

IS mostly STILL There! ... lurking somewhere, just below the surface ...

continued at Daily Kos...

Flow Rate Technical Group ups the Ante for BP

by jamess

Hot off the Presses ... Scoop: Gulf well may be gushing 25,000 to 30,000 barrels By Joel Achenbach, washingtonpost.com -- June 10, 2010; 4:00 PM ET Just filed to the web some new figures we obtained this afternoon from the federal government that suggest the Deepwater Horizon well is gushing more oil than previously estimated. The Flow Rate Technical Group has about five subgroups, and the one that is looking at the video of the leak, the so-called plume team, has come up with an estimate of 20,000 to 40,000 barrels a day, with the most likely range being 25,000 to 30,000 barrels. The team had earlier estimated the flow at 12,000 to 25,000 barrels.

continued at Daily Kos....

UPDATED: Some of the Oil is being Captured, and SOME, of it is NOT

by jamess

You've got to love breathless headlines, full of the 'best spin' possible. BP manages to catch some leaking crude oil Canwest News Service - June 4, 2010 It's estimated BP is siphoning oil at a rate of about 1,000 barrels a day so far. The damaged well has been spewing between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels a day since April. Allen said the containment cap had not made a perfect seal over the riser pipe, so oil may still be able to escape even after the vents are closed. 1,000 / 12,000  =  8.3% 1,000 / 25,000  =  4.2% But what does SOME really mean if we choose to use the Worst Case scenario numbers, that BP gave Congress, behind closed doors?  It seems we are approaching that 'Worst Case' ... 1,000 / 60,000  =  1.7% Yes, I guess, that might qualify as "some" of the Oil being captured. Of course that should be immediately follow by the question: Well that means "SOME" of it is still gushing, Right? How Much ... are in each of those 'some's?

continued at Daily Kos....