PHOTO BY TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE An oily mess inundates the Roseau Grasses that mark the coastline of Southeast Louisiana at Pass a Loutre at the mouth of the Mississippi River. . . . . especially on the western side of South Pass, Wednesday, May 19, 2010.

The EPA is running out of patience with BP.  On Thursday they told the EPA to stop using the dispersant its using, to use one less toxic and that is on a list of approved chemicals.  In another letter they told BP that they don’t feel BP is telling us everything. They were told to divulge everything about everything having to do with this leak . . . far too late to be telling BP this, but better late than never.  It’s been about a month since this disaster, and about 70,000 gallons of dirty oil is pouring out of one of two leaks.  Talk radio can frame this hwever they want, but anyone who has seen the videos of the oil leak and the oil washing up in the marshes right now, not at some imagined point in the future, knows this is an epic disaster.

May 20 — WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Dispersants are a chemical used to break up oil into small droplets so that they are more easily degraded.

The directive requires BP to identify a less toxic alternative – to be used both on the surface and under the water at the source of the oil leak – within 24 hours and to begin using the less toxic dispersant within 72 hours of submitting the alternative.  

If BP is unable to identify available alternative dispersant products, BP must provide the Coast Guard and EPA with a detailed description of the alternative dispersants investigated, and the reason they believe those products did not meet the required standards.  

EPA’s directive to BP can be found here.

While the dispersant BP has been using is on the agency’s approved list, BP is using this dispersant in unprecedented volumes and, last week, began using it underwater at the source of the leak – a procedure that has never been tried before. Because of its use in unprecedented volumes and because much is unknown about the underwater use of dispersants, EPA wants to ensure BP is using the least toxic product authorized for use. We reserve the right to discontinue the use of this dispersant method if any negative impacts on the environment outweigh the benefits.

On May 15, EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard authorized BP to use dispersants underwater at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak. As the dispersant is used underwater, BP is required to do constant, scientifically rigorous monitoring so EPA scientists may determine the dispersant’s effectiveness and impact on the [...]