Sep 8, 2010 05:44 GMT  ·  By
Photo showing the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burning in the Gulf of Mexico
   Photo showing the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burning in the Gulf of Mexico

According to officials at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it would appear that no dead zones have developed around the area of the Gulf of Mexico where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew up a few months ago.

These conclusions did not come as a surprise for the science team, which was expecting no dead zones in the area. The experts say that they indeed found decreased levels of decreased oxygen in the water.

However, the chemical was there, and its levels are unlikely to subside to below the dead zone limit any time soon. Most likely, the drop in concentrations is caused by microbes breaking down hydrocarbons.

The new investigation was conducted in collaboration with research teams from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

In the regions where past studies reported the existence of subsurface oil, the panel discovered dissolved oxygen levels as much as 20 percent lower than the normal, long-term average.

“All the scientists working in the Gulf have been carefully watching dissolved oxygen levels because excess carbon in the system might lead to a dead zone,” explains scientist Steve Murawski, PhD.

“While we saw a decrease in oxygen, we are not seeing a continued downward trend over time,” adds the expert, who is also the Chief Scientist for Fisheries and the head of the Joint Analysis Group.

“None of the dissolved oxygen readings have approached the levels associated with a dead zone and as the oil continues to diffuse and degrade, hypoxia becomes less of a threat,” he adds further.

The new report does not mean that the Gulf of Mexico, as a whole, is not now riddled with dead zones. This happens yearly in areas where major rivers spill, regardless of whether there is an oil leak or not.

“It is good news that dissolved oxygen has not reached hypoxic levels in these deepwater environs,” explains the OSTP associate director for environment, Shere Abbott.

The Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible drilling rig blew up on April 20 a few miles off the coast of Louisiana, and sunk a couple of days later.

Oil began gushing out of exposed drilling wells, and contaminated large swaths of water and land in many states.

NOAA and other federal organizations have been keeping an eye on the situation ever since, regularly conducting thorough investigations of the affected areas.