Report details fate of oil from BP spill
According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Science report, the vast majority of the oil from the BP oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed much of which is in the process of being degraded. A significant amount of this is the direct result of the robust federal response efforts.
A third (33 percent) of the total amount of oil released in the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill was captured or mitigated by the Unified Command recovery operations, including burning, skimming, chemical dispersion and direct recovery from the wellhead, according to a federal science report released today.
An additional 25 percent of the total oil naturally evaporated or dissolved, and 16 percent was dispersed naturally into microscopic droplets.The residual amount, just over one quarter (26 percent), is either on or just below the surface as residue and weathered tarballs, has washed ashore or been collected from the shore, or is buried in sand and sediments.Dispersed and residual oil remain in the system until they degrade through a number of natural processes.Early indications are that the oil is degrading quickly.
These estimates were derived by NOAA and the Department of the Interior, who jointly developed whats known as an Oil Budget Calculator, to provide ?measurements and best estimates of what happened to the spilled oil.
The calculator is based on 4.9 million barrels of oil released into the Gulf, the governments Flow Rate Technical Group estimate from Monday.
More than 25 of the best government and independent scientists contributed to or reviewed the calculator and its calculation method.