Apparently, 60 Minutes did a fantastic exposé on the whole shenanigan.
The cover-up included hiding dead animals and keeping scientists and reporters away from the spill.
Many of the people living along the Gulf Coast, who still have to endure the aftereffects of BP’s disaster, have been living with tarballs and an oil ring like an eyeliner along the coast four years later. They are also witness to devastated dolphins that wash up on the shores and the problems with the oysters they used to harvest.
NWF reports:
“Some 900 bottlenose dolphins of all ages—the vast majority of them dead—have been reported stranded in the northern Gulf between April 2010 and March 2014. In 2013, bottlenose dolphins were found dead or stranded at more than three times average rates before the spill. In 2011, dead infant or stillborn dolphins were found at nearly seven times the historical average.”
Dolphins in Barataria Bay showed evidence of adrenal problems and moderate-to-severe lung disease, which has been previously reported in mammals exposed to oil. This obviously is impacting their survival rate and ability to reproduce.
NWF found many other species have also been harmed by the dispersant-oil mixture:
From stranded sea turtles to the reported negative impacts of oil on a number of species of fish, including tuna, red snapper and mahi-mahi, there is evidence this is a long term recovery.
Marine life associated with the deep sea corals also showed visible signs of impact from the oil. In a laboratory study, coral larvae that had been exposed to oil, a chemical dispersant, and an oil/ dispersant mixture all had lower survival rates than the control larvae in clean seawater.
In the aftermath of the spill, a number of fish, including red snapper, caught in Gulf waters between eastern Louisiana and western Florida had unusual lesions or rotting fins. University of South Florida researchers examined red snapper and other fish and determined that their livers contained oil compounds that had a strong “pattern coherence” to oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
On Going:
As of 2013, Louisiana cleaned 4.6 million pounds of oily material from their beaches, double the amount collected in 2012.
In 2013 it was reported that dolphins and other marine life continued to die in record numbers with infant dolphins dying at six times the normal rate. One study released in 2014 reported that tuna, along with other fish exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs.
In November 2012, BP and the United States Department of Justice settled federal criminal charges with BP pleading guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress. BP also agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics.
A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Barataria Bay, which was heavily oiled during the spill, found dolphins were underweight and anaemic, and showing signs of liver and lung disease. What kind of billions will that serve, that is me, just asking!!
Resources:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fourth-anniversary-of-gulf-oil-spill-wildlife-is-still-suffering-from-toxic-cover-up/5377749
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/09/wildlife-gulf-of-mexico-bp-oil-spill
http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/