http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100924/NEWS/9240391/-1/NEWSMAP

Long-term effects unknown
By Charles McMahon
cmcmahon@seacoastonline.com
September 24, 2010 2:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH — It could take years — possibly even decades — for environmental and biological effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to come to light, University of New Hampshire oil specialist Dr. Nancy Kinner told local Rotarians on Thursday.
As the co-director of the Coastal Response Research Centre at UNH, Kinner was the featured speaker during a Portsmouth Rotary luncheon held at the Redhook Ale Brewery on Thursday afternoon.
Having been part of the national discussion that took place during efforts to stop the oil spill, and an expert contacted by the media, Kinner said the response and outlook for recovery in the Gulf of Mexico has been the focus of her group’s work for quite a while.
The tragedy began on April 20, when an explosion on the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers, sank a drilling rig and led to what Kinner called the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The spill is estimated to have spewed close to 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Kinner said.
Kinner first educated Rotarians on the amount of oil drilling activity that takes place in the Gulf.
If someone were to take all of the pipelines that connect the thousands of oil platforms in the Gulf and connect them the end result would be close to 63,000 miles of pipeline, said Kinner.
“That’s enough to wrap around the equator of Earth two-times-plus,” she said.
Kinner also spoke about the type of oil involved in the spill.
Called “Louisiana sweet crude,” the oil that spread across the Gulf was lighter and less dense but able to rise to the surface quickly and should be considered highly volatile, said Kinner.
“If I opened up a container of it, within a matter of minutes you’d be smelling it in the back of the room,” she said.

When the oil traveled to the surface it mimicked that of a smokestack and spread out, Kinner said. What resulted was the process of emulsion, which Kinner said created thick oil plumes and tar balls that washed ashore.
What makes the recent oil spill so unique and separates it from the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill in 1989 is the fact that it involved a much larger release of highly concentrated oil over a prolonged period of time.
Despite the fact the spill ended up killing fewer organisms, such as birds, than the Exxon Valdez, Kinner said what researchers are most concerned about are the long-term effects the spill could have on Gulf wildlife.
“We don’t know the long-term impacts on some of the species, and we will have to wait and see,” she said.
Kinner said scientists are beginning to look at the genetic material of organisms affected by the spill to determine whether they have any markers that indicate changes or increased potential for impaired growth or reproduction.
In addition to the effects, Kinner also gave an analysis on response efforts.
Kinner said the concern for people’s lives and the need to determine what resources to protect should be first and foremost in spill response
In the case of the Gulf spill, Kinner said a decision was made at the national level to protect near-shore resources such as the shrimp, crab and lobster industries.
The trade-off, according to Kinner, was deepwater resources and species.
“It’s what do you want to protect more, that’s the only choice you have to make,” Kinner said. “Until you get it stopped, you have to make a trade-off.”

Special thanks to Richard Charter