3 Years Post-BP Oil Disaster: Heartbreak in the Gulf Continues

Bird Oiled by BP Spill Found Off Louisiana Coast in 2010

This week marks the third anniversary of the BP Oil Disaster where 11 workers were killed and the largest accidental oil spill in history occurred.  The multiple, long-term effects are still ever present in the Gulf of Mexico.  Dolphins continue to die at alarming rates and contaminated fish are still being found. This report by the Government Accountability Project documented the dangers of the dispersants used in the cleanup the oil to both people and marine life exposed - contradicting BP and government reassurances that the chemicals were safe.  Although dispersants made the oil visually disappear, in reality it simply spread out the contamination to deeper waters and coastal areas as shown in the below image from a news article. The dispersant also made the oil more deadly - by increasing its toxicity 52 times according to a recent study and by making it more readily absorbed by marine life.

For more details about the spills impacts, inadequacy of response efforts, and misrepresentations by BP and the government, check out summary at Newsweek and video and photo gallery at Huffington Post.