A panel of officials from the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed to Rep. Edward Markey (R-Mass.), the lone member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in attendance, some rather “unsavory” numbers regarding the status of the Gulf Coast.
After the release of the oil budget report, Markey told the panel that Americans are reacting to the Gulf Coast situation with a “false sense of confidence.”
“Over confidence breeds complacency and complacency is what got us into this situation in the first place,” Merkey said.
Dr. Bill Lehr, Senior Scientist at NOAA, estimated that nearly 4.1 million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, omitting the nearly 800,000 barrels that were captured by containment efforts, but admits a majority of the oil is still present in the environment.
“Probably about three-fourths would still be [in the environment],” Lehr said.
The NOAA scientist pointed out discrepencies in his estimate saying that the only oil “officially” removed from the Gulf waters was that that was burned and skimmed. Oil contained using dispersants and that washed up on the Gulf shores as tar balls remain “in” the environment and Lehr said do not contribute to the percentages of oil removed from the water.
Lehr said that just over 10% of the 4.1 million barrels that spilled into the Gulf have been “removed” from the envorinment, leaving nearly 90% subject to dispersants, beach clean-up crews and natural dispersion.