Subsea oil plumes found 142 miles from rig

www.msnbc.com staff and news service reports Clouds of oil have been found drifting underwater in the Gulf of Mexico as far as 142 miles from the wrecked Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, government officials said Tuesday. At a briefing, Jane Lubchenko, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said that tests conducted at three sites by a University of South Florida research vessel confirmed oil as far as 3,300 feet below the surface. The oil was found 42 miles northeast of the well site and also 142 miles to the southeast. Lubchenko said the tests “indicate there is definitely oil sub surface. It’s in very low concentrations” of 0.5 parts per million. There have been reports of such underwater “plumes” previously, but BP had questioned whether oil was actually forming below water. … This is the first time the presence of oil plumes has been confirmed by a government agency. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said while the term plume had been used widely for several weeks, it was technically incorrect. “Cloud is a better term,” he said Tuesday. … “Additional work is needed to better understand the fate and transport of hydrocarbons within the deeper waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico,” NOAA said in a document which detailed the findings. …