Oil from Exxon Valdez spill still an environmental threat

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Workers use high-pressure steam and water to try and clean up Alaska beaches after the Exxon Valdez spill.

ExxonMobil tries to avoid paying for new remediation efforts

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal scientists say oil from the Exxon Valdez spill more than 20 years ago is still affecting coastal ecosystems in Alaska and requires more restoration efforts — But Exxon (now ExxonMobil) attorneys are asking a federal court to release the company from any additional financial liability for the spill.

According to recent documents filed with U.S. District Court in Alaska, some of the oil that gushed from the busted tanker is degrading more slowly than anticipated and remains as a toxic exposure threat to to sea otters, harlequin ducks and other animals using intertidal habitats.

According to the latest court filings, discovery of the oil raises several questions that must be addressed before finalizing the details of a restoration plan, including the location and extent of the oil, factors limiting natural degradation and a quest for new technologies to accelerate the degradation and dispersal of the residue. (more…)

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New study shows lingering impacts from Gulf oil spill

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist rescues an oil-soaked pelican in Batavia Bay, Louisiana. PHOTO BY JOHN D. MILLER/U.S. COAST GUARD.

New LSU research suggests that oil gushing from BP’s failed Macondo Well damaged gills and has potentially long-term impacts to reproduction

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Louisiana State University biologists said this week that oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has damaged the gills of marsh-dwelling fish along the Gulf Coast The research also suggests that exposure to the oil could impair fish reproduction, meaning that the probability of impact on populations is significant.

The study by Fernando Galvez and Andrew Whitehead was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and  is being published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The gill tissues, important for maintaining critical body functions, appeared damaged and had altered protein expression coincident with oil exposure. The effects persisted for long after the visible oil disappeared from the marsh surface. Controlled exposures in laboratory settings of developing embryos to field-collected waters induced similar cellular responses.

“This is of concern because early life-stages of many organisms are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of oil and because marsh contamination occurred during the spawning season of many important species,” Whitehead said. “Though the fish may be ‘safe to eat’ based on low chemical burdens in their tissues, that doesn’t mean that the fish are healthy or that the fish are capable of reproducing normally,” he added.

A major take-home message of the more than two decades of research following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was that sub-lethal biological effects, especially those associated with reproduction, were most predictive of the long-term population-level impacts still apparent in many species such as herring and salmon.

The current LSU study shows that early signals of similar kinds of sub-lethal effects are starting to emerge in  ecologically important species following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Filed under: BP Gulf oil spill, Environment, Marine biology, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Microbial cleanups touted for major oil spills

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A NASA photo taken May 13, 2010 from 28,000 feet shows the Deepwater Horizon oil slick spreading across the Gulf of Mexico as a light-blue sheen.

Natural and enhanced microbial degradation identified as key to minimizing impacts

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Ubiquitous oil-eating microbes may be the key to cleaning up future oil spills, according to a pair of researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who studied both the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska and last summer’s disastrous Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite big differences in the impacted marine ecosystems and the circumstances of these two worst oil spills in U.S. history, oil-degrading microorganisms played a significant role in reducing the overall environmental impact of both spills, the scientists said.

“Responders to future oil spills would do well to mobilize as rapidly as possible to determine both natural and enhanced microbial degradation and what the best possible approach will be to minimize the risk and impact of the spill on the environment,” said Terry Hazen, a microbial ecologist with the Berkeley Lab. (more…)

Filed under: BP Gulf oil spill, energy, Environment, Marine biology, oil drilling, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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