Bioremediation of the Oil Disaster In the Gulf? Can anyone state why this is not an option?

[benld74]

Microbes have been used in the past and have proved successful, both in fresh water, salt water, marsh lands etc.

I found the information on it in the Internet tubes, but have heard NOTHING about it anywhere else.
Anyone know why? IS this not an option?

[PDJane]

1. The possible widening of the dead zone.........

because of the bacteria eating the oxygen in the water.

[NightWatcher]

2. in small scale spills nature is "self cleaning" but in gushers that are this huge

the system is overwhelmed.

Think about how you can drink "poison", and kill braincells ( 4 shots of tequila). Your body feels like shit the next morning but is able to ultimately process the "poison" right out of your system. Now try drinking 4 gallons of the same tequila and see how your body reacts. A small oil spill would make the ecosystem feel like shit for a short time, but it would be able to recover, but this "spill" is dumping way more than can be processed and eliminated.

[BeFree]

3. Option?

Keep the surface oil out of the marshes.
Dispersants have worked doing that.
Now that the main body of water is emulsified, natural breakdown and dilution in the greater Atlantic is the name of the game. Maybe the only game.

We could oxygenate the waters. But picture a million hoses dropped deep and bubbling air up through the plumes of oil. Hard to do.