Oil spill dispersants present concern

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - Some folks are still questioning the effectiveness, and safety of dispersants being used in the Gulf. Dr. Robert Shipp, from the University of South Alabama is one of them.

While dispersants are meant to break up the millions of gallons of oil being released into the Gulf every day for the last 70 days, Dr. Shipp said now, not only is that oil getting into our ecosystem, but so are the the dispersants. He said the dispersants and the oil are causing different, but equally detrimental effects on the Gulf, and the wildlife in and around it.

"Out of sight, out of mind," Dr. Shipp said.

Shipp said that's the whole idea behind dispersants. He said dispersants don't make oil go away, they just hide it.

"It just puts it beneath the surface where it can't be seen. Once it's beneath the surface there's very little we can do about it. We can't skim it, we can't burn it, it gets into the water column, it eventually will settle into the sediments where the organisms like shrimp and the other bottom feeders will incorporate it into their system and it'll either kill them or pass it up the food web," Shipp explained.

Dr. Shipp said the dispersants are causing more than just oil to settle into the sea floor.

"The oil will be in the sediments, the dispersants will be in the sediment, and that's where they enter the food web, from the sediments on the bottom. We told this to BP six weeks ago, we implored them not to use it because of that very thing. It's going to enter the food web and the ecosystem," added Shipp.

BP has already used millions of gallons of the EPA approved dispersant Corexit to break up oil in the Gulf. Unfortunately, we don't know a lot about the dispersant.

"We do know there are toxins in it, we know this particular one has been banned in most European countries because of the toxins in it. They say it's like Joy dish detergent. It's a lot more than that, that's for sure. It's never been used at this level anywhere before and EPA has vacillated. At first they approved it, then they said they can't use it, but somehow or other they're still using it," said Dr. Shipp.

He said there's really no way to know the long-term effects dispersants will have on our ecosystem.

"It's bad for the ecosystem, it may have really long range effects, and it doesn't do one bit of good," explained Shipp.

Dr. Shipp said the dispersants break oil up into smaller pieces so the micro-organisms can break it down faster, but the process uses up a lot of oxygen. He said if these dispersants don't kill those micro-organisms, they could end up in the food chain, and could eventually become part of our dinner.