BP Oil Spill Dissolving Quickly

Unless you've taken a vacation and shut yourself off from the news, you know that BP's CEO Tony Hayward is stepping down and heading to Russia to work with TNK-BP, a BP joint venture. The move will allow the company to rebuild itself, if it can survive and stay in business.

BP has been working on relief wells for a long time. Now, the effort may not need the almost completed wells because the "static kill" may do the job. Static kill involves spraying mud and cement at the well to plug it. BP says it will continue working on the relief wells as a safety measure.

News reports state that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is disappearing faster than expected. While much of the oil sheen from the April 20 explosion is about gone, reports of tar balls and patches continue to pop up. The oil leaked for 86 days until BP loaded a cap on the well on July 15. In spite of the cap, the well is not yet permanently sealed.

According to scientists, the oil's quick dissolution probably occurred because of the gulf's natural ability to break down oil, recent winds from two storms and the cleanup efforts involving burning the oil, skimmers and using dispersants. While this is good news for the environment, animal life and beaches, the long-term effects remain unseen.

At this point, the government and BP need to figure out how much to slow down cleanup efforts without negative impacts. Scaling down too soon could affect more than just the environment.

For example, the fishermen, hired to help with cleanup efforts, may be out of work for an unknown length of time. It's not clear when they'd be able to return to their livelihoods. After all, many animals don't swim near the surface where the oil has disappeared. The animals live deep in the gulf where there may still be oil remnants.

The Coast Guard has reported that over 170 million gallons of oil — close to 5 million barrels — spilled in the gulf, which surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez' spill of 10.8 million gallons. Cleanup efforts have used 1 million gallons of dispersant and deployed 3.4 million feet of boom.

The U.S. government still has a moratorium on deep-water drilling until November. As a result, BP says it will create a $100 million fund to help oil and gas rig workers who have lost their jobs in the Gulf of Mexico because of the leak.