Dispersants used excessively in Gulf

This was reported about 2 mns ago on Good Morning America. Now its coming back to light as we see it's effects. Here's the GMA video - below, the story from CNN published today.



By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The dispersants were used to break up oil after the April 20 rig explosion
The EPA ordered the oil giant in May to limit surface application of the chemicals
In rare cases, exemptions to use the chemical could be requested

(CNN) -- New documents released by a congressional subcommittee indicate that Coast Guard officials allowed BP to use excessive amounts of chemical dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP used the chemicals to break up oil after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion sent millions of gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf.

Despite a federal directive restricting their use, the Coast Guard routinely granted exemptions, said Rep. Edward J. Markey, chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

"BP carpet bombed the ocean with these chemicals, and the Coast Guard allowed them to do it," Markey said in a statement Saturday. "After we discovered how toxic these chemicals really are, they had no business being spread across the Gulf in this manner."

The exemptions granted "were in no way rare," Markey said in a letter to retired Adm. Thad Allen, the former commandant of the Coast Guard who is now overseeing the federal response to the oil spill.

The Coast Guard approved more than 74 exemptions in 48 days, Markey said. In one instance, Coast Guard officials allowed the oil giant to use a larger volume of dispersants than it had applied for, he said.

Dispersants are "a toxic stew of chemicals, oil and gas, with impacts that are not well understood," Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in the letter to Allen.

In May, the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Coast Guard, ordered the oil giant to stop surface application of the chemicals during the oil spill except in rare occasions, according to a House subcommittee on energy and environment.

In rare cases, exemptions had to be requested, documents show.

Markey said the findings are based on an analysis by the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

Calls to a BP press office and the Joint Information Center were not immediately returned.

The EPA said in May that it believes the oil giant's total use of dispersants can be reduced by as much as 80 percent. While the dispersants were breaking up much of the oil being spilled into the Gulf, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said, "we are making environmental tradeoffs" and are "deeply concerned" about potential side effects.

Markey said the subcommittee also found contradictions on how much chemical dispersant was being used. On other occasions, BP used more than the amount approved by the Coast Guard, Markey said in his letter.

The report brings into question the total amount of dispersants used in the Gulf. BP says it has used 1.8 million gallons to break up oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon's ruptured well.

"The validity of those numbers are now in question," Markey said.