Reports focus on lingering effects of Gulf oil spill [View All]

[blindpig]

August 17, 2010 1:01 p.m. EDT

Reports cast doubt on the government's estimate of oil remaining in the water

The UGA report says more oil remains in the Gulf than the government has said

A University of South Florida report says the oil may be further east than first thought

(CNN) -- Two reports published Tuesday express concern about the lingering effects of oil spilled from the ruptured BP well into the Gulf of Mexico.

A team from Georgia Sea Grant and the University of Georgia released a report that estimates that 70 to 79 percent of the oil that gushed from the well "has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem," the university said in a release.

Meanwhile, researchers at the University of South Florida have concluded that oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have settled to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico further east than previously suspected -- and at levels toxic to marine life. Their study is to be released Tuesday, as well, but CNN obtained a summary of the initial conclusions Monday night.

Initial findings from a new survey of the Gulf conclude that dispersants may have sent droplets of crude to the ocean floor, where it has turned up at the bottom of an undersea canyon within 40 miles of the Florida Panhandle, the University of South Florida team said.

more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/17/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?iref=storysearch