OMG! I worked for Ed Overton from 1985-1988 when he was in charge of Environmental Studies, when we were in the basement of Atkinson Hall! I was on a NOAA grant as a Research Associate. He would have known be by my maiden name (Stewart). We did a ton of sniffing around chemical plant fences and identifying who oil spills belonged to. It was fun.

He hasn't changed much in 25 years. I'm glad they got the new building and labs built.

I left in 1988 to go to work in industry. Ed said I was off to be "a dirty industrial chemist". He was right. I analyzed the catalysts industry uses to make plastics out of oil. I did that for 16 years. Heard of polyethylene or polypropylene? They are made from ethylene and propylene, parts of oil. Recycle your plastics.

On another note, Senator Landrieu is still pro-drilling because the petrochemical industry is such a huge part of the Louisiana economy. She is, of course, wrong (about the drilling part, not about the economy)! We need to bring clean energy industries here to fill in the huge hole that a drop in oil production and related industries will leave.

A majority of people who vote for Senator Landrieu work in the oil and chemical industries. I did, and so did tons of my friends and colleagues. We need our Senators and Congresspersons to bring new industries with jobs that pay comparably to the petrochemical industry, a tall order.

I hope to God we're waking up to the fact that we need to get off oil drilling. We can produce oil from cellulose and bacteria with the right enzymes.

When are we going to do it on a large scale? When are we going to switch to electric power made from wind and solar? I wish I knew...

My inner chemE is squeeing.

Dispersants contain surfactants (surface active agents) which reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water allowing the oil to form into a droplet by overcoming its surface tension much like the water droplets from a leaking faucet (spherical shape has the lowest surface area).

Peace.

This is the "Out of sight, out of mind" routine. There are, however, more poisons sitting on the bottom when the oil is dispersed.

" ... when the oil is dispersed ... "

No matter the cure, it is all theoretical, and theoretical is too close to imaginary.  Someone said the thing is now the size of the State of Delaware.  Is not the math really simple?  6,000 barrels per day multiplied by 90 days, and if what can be done in 90 days cannot be done then, thinking about New Orleans is behind the curve.  Ahead of the curve is the Gulf becoming an ugly black sea that effectively dams the Mississippi.

Someone needs to be working on how to prevent Cairo, Illinois from being washed totally away in floods 8 to 10 months from now.   Or a good portion of Memphis after that, or Saint Louis after that.

Thanks for posting this in-depth explanation. Makes sense to me.

My question would be what is the effect of the dispersants on the food chain in the gulf? How do the chemicals in the dispersants and the oil affect the plankton and algae and seaweed that are eaten by the little fish that are eaten by the bigger fish? What happens to shrimp and oysters that are living in and breathing the chemical/oil/water soup that the gulf will be after days and days of oil and dispersants being dumped in it? This all sounds like a pretty scary unintended consequences scenario to me. Are they checking those dead turtles for dispersant chemicals as well as for oil residue?

I think that Dr. Shaklee's original formula for Basic H should be tried ASAP. I have seen the surface tension of oil dispersed on contact with H. I know it does not harm plant or animal life. I've used it to wash my children and pets. (Farmers claim it has never harmed their livestock either; drinking from the ponds with direct run off from the fields sprayed with H.) I always watered my lawn and plants -since it broke the surface tension and cut down on the frequency as well. It is highly economical as an ounce will make 6+- gallons of household cleaner. Since it will break down gum in a child's hair I'm hoping the viscosity of crude oil might be similar. No, I do not sell this product but I was never without it even while living in Mexico for 3yr. (All produce had a Basic H bath before consumption and I never developed an GI upsets.) The Shaklee Corporation made hesitate to make and of these claims but I pray the powers that be will at least took into possibility of using H.

Sorry, that concentration factor is 1 ounce makes 64 gallons. . . . and I pray the powers that be will at least look into possibility of using H.

There are other safer products, such as FM186-2 from Environmental Chemical Solutions. www.ecschem.com. Check them out.

I was wondering if, in addition to dispersants, bio enzyme products were being applied to the oil (either at sea or in near shore areas) to help accelerate accurate bacterial digestion.

I came across a product called BioZorb (from Oppenheimer Biotechnology, Inc. website: http://www.obio.com ) that was used in January 1997 in the Sea of Japan following the break-up of a Russian tanker. Details can be found at http://www.obio.com/japanoil.htm

I am not a representative of the company, nor do I have a financial interest in the product. But, if it is something that would help, we should be looking into it.

Best Wishes,

Tom Shafer

Thanks for this. I teach chemistry and an environmental workshop and I'll definitely be showing this clip to both. I hope to get some good discussions!

I think those of us who have actual, concrete suggestions as to products that could help should send their information to someone who can actually do something with it.   Send it to your senators and representative, to Sen. Landreu of LA, to the governors of the Gulf states, to the Coast Guard, to the EPA, and to anyone else you can think of.  Those folks are all too busy right now to be reading comments on Rachael's blog. ;)

My sister Becky did talk to Shaklee and the White House folks while I was sharing here. Both were very receptive. Off to look at the website Mr. Shafer suggested. Thanks

Dear Rachel: I sent an email to your site at msnbc appealing to you to consider generating the idea of creating a unified master control center to deal with oil spill. BP and innumerable agencies are busily running into each other without a centralized entity that can 1) visualize ships, barges, skimmers, etc by having every major vessel carry a transponder that send signal to satellite or drone and back to control center. 2) this would enable team of experts, scientists and EPA direct each vessel to where it can be most helpful. We have seen aerial video of single small vessel with a couple of booms just sitting there, praying for a skimmer to come by? or just collecting some money from BP while NOT BENEFITTING THE GULF ECOSYSTEM!

Please think what major salvatage operation can be carried successfully without a centralized control entity. We are waiting for BP who has flaunted safety and caused spills for years, who has failed at every attempt to significantly decrease flow or increase rate of capture. They are at best shifting pollution to atmosphere by burning oil indiscriminately. Do you expect them to actually find the damaged well rom two sides, pierce through hardened casing and swiftly starting to pump oil out safely and close the billions of dollars-producing well, to save the walruses? Rachel you are an agent of change. Ask anybody who has had to conduct a major civilian or military operation, ask if it can be done without a centralized monitor and control center. Ask the chief control manager of the New York subway if they could function without knowing in real time, on a huge board, where each piece of rolling equipment is, its speed, whether it has a clear path ahead, whether signaling devices are operating correctly, etc. etc.

PLEASE, there are experts that extinguished hundreds of destroyed wellheads in Kuwait after Saddam's invasion, there are satellites and drones that could be diverted from killing civilians in Afghanistan to monitor oil lakes on and under sea surface (visual and other classified means), a federalized control center is needed. It could never do a worse job than Inepts at BP and a rather timid and subservient Coast Guard echoing BP press releases.

Please, think, ask around and push for it. You could make an enormous difference that the people and the Gulf, its flora and fauna would benefit from. Each day people loose interest until it becomes too late. Mind you, it is too late for a yet to be measured volume of of earth's biosphere.

Re read, think, act, please

Hans W. Eikhof

Dear Rachel: I sent an email to your site at msnbc appealing to you to consider generating the idea of creating a unified master control center to deal with oil spill. BP and innumerable agencies are busily running into each other without a centralized entity that can 1) visualize ships, barges, skimmers, etc by having every major vessel carry a transponder that send signal to satellite or drone and back to control center. 2) this would enable team of experts, scientists and EPA direct each vessel to where it can be most helpful. We have seen aerial video of single small vessel with a couple of booms just sitting there, praying for a skimmer to come by? or just collecting some money from BP while NOT BENEFITTING THE GULF ECOSYSTEM!

Please think what major salvatage operation can be carried successfully without a centralized control entity. We are waiting for BP who has flaunted safety and caused spills for years, who has failed at every attempt to significantly decrease flow or increase rate of capture. They are at best shifting pollution to atmosphere by burning oil indiscriminately. Do you expect them to actually find the damaged well rom two sides, pierce through hardened casing and swiftly starting to pump oil out safely and close the billions of dollars-producing well, to save the walruses? Rachel you are an agent of change. Ask anybody who has had to conduct a major civilian or military operation, ask if it can be done without a centralized monitor and control center. Ask the chief control manager of the New York subway if they could function without knowing in real time, on a huge board, where each piece of rolling equipment is, its speed, whether it has a clear path ahead, whether signaling devices are operating correctly, etc. etc.

PLEASE, there are experts that put hundreds of destroyed wellheads out in Kuwait after Saddam's invasion, there are satellites and drones that could be diverted from killing civilians in Afghanistan to monitor oil lakes on and under sea surface (visual and other classified means), a federalized control center is needed. It could never do a worse job than Inepts at BP and a rather timid and subservient Coast Guard echoing BP press releases.

Please, think, ask around and push for it. You could make an enormous difference that the people and the Gulf, its flora and fauna would benefit from. Each day people loose interest until it becomes too late. Mind you, it is too late for a yet to be measured volume of of earth's biosphere.

Re read, think, act, please

Hans W. Eikhof