Scientists: Methane from 2010 BP oil spill lasted long after clean-up

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/11/scientists-methane-from-2010-bp-oil-spill-lasted-long-after-clean-up/



Scientists on Sunday said that methane which leaked from the 2010 oil-rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico persisted in the sea for months beyond a presumed cleanup of the gas by marine microbes.

As much as half a million tonnes of natural gas, 80 percent of it methane, leaked into the deep sea as a result of the blowout on April 20, 2010, on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig.

The leak triggered a surprising “bloom” of marine bacteria that feasted on the gassy hydrocarbon plume.

The bugs performed a valuable environmental service, helping to prevent gas from lingering in the sea — where it would contribute to ocean acidification — or from escaping to the air, where it would add to the greenhouse-gas problem.