BP media blackout UPDATE: Scientists emerge with warnings of BP chemical dispersant abuse

The moment the BP Macondo well began leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has tried to hide the size of the spill. In addition to claiming a grossly underestimated initial spill rate of just 1,000 barrels a day, the oil giant began pouring the controversial dispersant Corexit on the flow, at unprecedented rates. 

Since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010, BP has pumped nearly 2 million gallons of Corexit into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s use of chemical dispersant has been called into question by the US Department of Environmental Protection. The EPA’s concern over potential adverse effects from Corexit prompted the agency to issue a public order for BP to stop using the chemical.  However, BP ignored the order and has continued to spray the chemical on the spill.

Scientists are now saying that there is cause for alarm because of BP’s blatant disregard for the potentially irreversible damage from the massive use of dispersants. Unlike spilled oil, chemical dispersant can never be cleaned up or recovered, once it’s been sprayed into the water. Any damage from dispersant is therefore irreversible.
                                        
“Deep concern about negative impacts the dispersant/crude oil mix will have on both the marine ecosystem and human health has prompted leading ocean scientists to issue a consensus statement that urges a halt to any further dispersant use in the Gulf. The statement, authored by Dr. Susan Shaw, Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, stands on a large body of research indicating that crude oil and dispersant are more toxic when they are combined, than either oil or dispersant alone,” according to a CNBC report.

BP as been trying to hide scientific evidence that could be used against them in litigation since the start of the oil spill disaster.

Just days after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, Professor Norm Guinasso of Texas A&M University was approached by BP with a contract to ‘buy’ his silence. The lucrative contract that prohibits scientists from publishing their findings on the BP oil spill was also offered to scientists at Louisiana State University, Alabama University, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Southern Alabama, and other independent researchers.

Scientists not muzzled by BP’s stifling contract believe the worst impacts of the oil spill disaster are yet to come.  

Without full public disclosure of all available oil spill data, there could be thousands of otherwise unexplained incidents of disease, cancer, reproductive problems and other adverse health effects on marine life and humans.

BP’s efforts to buy the silence of the scientific community adds credibility to the claims for concern by marine biologists and other researchers. If there were nothing detrimental to hide, BP would not be attempting to block public access to critical scientific data.

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 Resources and more info:

Anderson Cooper CNN

Marine Environmental Research Institute

CNBC

Oil spill media blackout evidence: BP buying scientists to hide data