By Jim Polson and Allison Bennett
The “vast majority” of crude from BP Plc’s damaged Gulf of Mexico well is gone and the rest is being broken down by waves and bacteria, reducing the threat of further pollution from the largest maritime oil spill, White House energy adviser Carol Browner said.
“The vast majority of the oil has been contained, it’s been burned, it’s been cleaned,” Browner said on CBS’s “Early Show” today. The remaining oil “will weather, it will break down naturally. Mother Nature will do her part.”
An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked from BP’s Macondo well between April 20 and July 15, according to government scientists. BP was able to capture about 800,000 barrels of crude from the well before it entered the Gulf. The leak began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers.
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