5 scientists insist most oil is still in gulf

Most of the oil that leaked from BP’s Macondo well from April 20 to July 15 is beneath the water’s surface, five scientists concluded in a memo made public Monday. The researchers, who include Samantha Joye, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia in Athens, say they drew upon the US government’s study while reaching different conclusions.

The Obama administration’s Aug. 4 report indicated that almost three-fourths of the crude that leaked has disappeared or soon will be eaten by bacteria. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has said at least half of the oil released is “completely gone.’’

Chemist Dana Wetzel said the administration’s conclusion felt like the “closing credits of a movie.’’

“It’s like they were saying ‘the end,’ ’’ Wetzel, program manager at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., said in an interview last week. “I’d say we have just gotten through setting up the plot.’’

Spokesmen at the White House, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the US Coast Guard didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Charles Hopkinson, a University of Georgia marine scientist and one of the five researchers, said plumes of oil dispersed underwater remain a threat.

“One major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless,’’ he said in a statement released Monday. “The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are.’’

Other scientists agree with the government that the oil has largely dissipated.

“I don’t think it’s still lurking out there,’’ said Edward Overton, an environmental chemist and professor emeritus at Louisiana State University, last week.

“The Gulf is incredible in its resiliency and ability to clean itself up,’’ said Overton, who served as a technical reviewer for the administration’s report. “I think we are going to be flabbergasted by the little amount of damage that has been caused by this spill.’’

The leak began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased by London-based BP exploded off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers and oiling as much as 650 miles of coastline.

The scientists who said that as much as 79 percent of the oil is still in the Gulf of Mexico said their estimates don’t include oil known to have washed into coastal wetlands because such crude is too difficult to measure, according to the memo, dated Aug. 11 and written by Hopkinson.

President Obama and administration officials have emphasized positive news about the Gulf region since the flow of oil from the biggest US spill was halted.

Obama and his family traveled to Florida’s Gulf coast on Saturday in a bid to provide the region with an economic boost. The president, who took a swim with daughter Sasha, said beaches along the coast are clean and open for business and the seafood is safe.