L.A. Times – NOAA skeptical of oil-plume reports
Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called media reports of large underwater oil plumes “premature,” adding that research conducted by an academic ocean institute was inconclusive.
“Media reports related to the research work conducted aboard the R/V Pelican included information that was misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate,” Lubchenco said in a statement. She was referring to research, including water sampling, done by the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology.
Lubchenco said those scientists have clarified that they have not reached “definitive conclusions … about the composition of the undersea layers they discovered. Characterization of these layers will require analysis of samples and calibration of key instruments. The hypothesis that the layers consist of oil remains to be verified.”
The NOAA chief also made these clarifications:
“While oxygen levels detected in the layers were somewhat below normal, they are not low enough to be a source of concern at this time…. Although their initial interest in searching for subsurface oil was motivated by consideration of subsurface use of dispersants, there is no information to connect use of dispersants to the subsurface layers they discovered.”
L.A. Times
5/17/10
