Earth Equity News

BP CEO Disputes Claims of Underwater Oil Plumes. By Matthew Brown, AP, May 30, 2010. “Disputing scientists' claims of large oil plumes suspended underwater in the Gulf of Mexico, BP PLC's chief executive on Sunday said the company has largely narrowed the focus of its cleanup to surface slicks rolling into Louisiana's coastal marshes. During a tour of a BP PLC staging area for cleanup workers, CEO Tony Hayward said the company's sampling showed ‘no evidence’ that oil was suspended in large masses beneath the surface. He didn't elaborate on how the testing was done. Hayward said that oil's natural tendency is to rise to the surface, and any oil found underwater was in the process of working its way up. ‘The oil is on the surface,’ Hayward said. ‘There aren't any plumes.’ Scientists from several universities have reported plumes of what appears to be oil far from the site of BP's leaking wellhead, which is more than 5,000 beneath the surface. Those findings -- from the University of South Florida, the University of Georgia, Southern Mississippi University and other institutions -- were based on video images and initial observations of water samples taken in the Gulf over the last several weeks... Calls to BP seeking more information on how they tested for the underwater plumes weren't immediately returned.”