Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) says the Deepwater Horizon explosion that spilled oil into the Gulf of Mexico wasn't that big of a deal. (Photo: Alex Wong via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, a concerned Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) jumped in his car and drove from Tyler, Texas, to somewhere southeast of New Orleans. He brought along a high-definition video camera, planning to document the effects of what would prove to be the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
“I was going to film the destructiveness to the beaches,” he said during a legislative hearing Tuesday. But instead he claims to have found almost no oil — “a drop or two here and there,” as he put it — along the coast between New Orleans and Panama City, Florida.
“I was going, ‘Where’s all the oil?’” he said.
People — who, Gohmert didn’t say — kept telling him, “Oh, [the oil is] 10 miles down the beach,” he said. “I never found it. I don’t know what happened to it, but somehow nature does amazing things.”
Ironically, the story came during a hearing Tuesday to discuss a package of bills that reads like the wish list of the oil and gas industry. Not only did Gohmert ignore the devastating environmental impact and the massive years-long cleanup that took place throughout the Gulf of Mexico, he suggested that Earth somehow managed to clean up the mess on its own — and is perfectly capable of handling future oil spills.
Gohmert didn’t say how soon it was after the April 20, 2010, explosion that he took his road trip, which might have explained the lack of oil he says he found along the beach. What is clear, however, is that oil spewed from the well for the better part of three months, with more than 200 million gallons of crude ending up in the Gulf.
In all, oil was found along 1,313 miles of coastline in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas, scientists detailed in a a study published last year. By the end of 2013, crews had collected more than 106,000 tons of oily material from along the Gulf Coast.
At the peak of the disaster response in summer 2010, more than 47,000 response personnel and 7,000 vessels were involved in the cleanup effort, according to the Congressional Research Service. In July 2016, BP pegged its costs related to the disaster at $61.6 billion.
BP oil company contract workers remove oil that washed onto the beach at Grand Isle State Park in Louisiana on June 6, 2010. (Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As for where the oil ended up, the Congressional Research Service crunched government data and in a December 2010 report noted that roughly 41 percent was directly or chemically recovered, burned or skimmed. About 24 percent is believed have evaporated or dissolved. The remaining 35 percent was either “naturally dispersed” or persisted in the environment.
Studies indicate a significant amount may have settled onto the ocean floor. A 2015 study led by Jeff Chanton, an oceanography professor at Florida State University, found that the amount could be as high as 10 million gallons.
“This is going to affect the Gulf for years to come,” Chanton said in a statement at the time.
That’s the thing about oceans: They are big. And despite what Gohmert might tell you, just because oil — or any number of other pollutants — isn’t visible, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
In the case of Deepwater Horizon, however, the effects could be seen from space.
NASA’s Terra satellite photo on May 24, 2010, shows the lingering oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon spill off the Mississippi Delta. (Photo: Michon Scott/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
The Canadian Coast Guard responds to a bunker fuel spill in Vancouver's English Bay on April 9, 2015.
Water birds were reportedly spotted on the beach with oily feathers, but officials say they flew away before their health could be checked.
California Declares State Of Emergency As Oil Spill Harms Pristine Coastline
GOLETA, CA - MAY 22: A bird covered in oil spreads its wings as it sits on a rock near Refugio State Beach on May 22, 2015 in Goleta, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency after over 100,000 gallons of oil spilled from an abandoned pipeline on the land near Refugio State Beach, spreading over about nine miles of beach within hours. The largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters at the time occurred in the same section of the coast in 1969 where numerous offshore oil platforms can be seen, giving birth to the modern American environmental movement. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SeaWorld Cares For Oiled Sea Lion
SAN DIEGO, CA - MAY 21: In this handout photo provided by SeaWorld San Diego, a young California sea lion is washed at SeaWorld San Diego's Oiled Wildlife Care Center May 21, 2015 in San Diego, California. The animal was brought to SeaWorld for rehabilitation after being affected by the oil spill in Santa Barbara. The animal's condition is guarded, as the team continues to keep him hydrated and wash all the oil off. (Photo by Mike Aguilera/SeaWorld San Diego via Getty Images)
Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Along Santa Barbara Coast
GOLETA, CALIFORNIA - MAY 20: An octopus lies dead on an oil-covered beach after an oil spill near Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015 north of Goleta, California. About 21,000 gallons spilled from an abandoned pipeline on the land near Refugio State Beach, spreading over about four miles of beach within hours. The largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters at the time occurred in the same section of the coast where numerous offshore oil platforms can be seen, giving birth to the modern American environmental movement. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Along Santa Barbara Coast
GOLETA, CALIFORNIA - MAY 20: A dead lobster lies on an oil-covered beach after an oil spill near Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015 north of Goleta, California. About 21,000 gallons spilled from an abandoned pipeline on the land near Refugio State Beach, spreading over about four miles of beach within hours. The largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters at the time occurred in the same section of the coast where numerous offshore oil platforms can be seen, giving birth to the modern American environmental movement. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
US-OIL-POLLUTION
A bird covered in oil glides from rocks to the water at El Capitan State Beach in Goleta, California, May 22, 2015. The oil company behind a crude spill on the California coast vowed to do the 'right thing' to clear up the mess, even as reports emerged of past leaks involving its pipelines. Plains All American Pipeline made the pledge as it said nearly 8,000 gallons of oil had been scooped up, out of some 21,000 gallons believed to have flooded into the ocean near Santa Barbara, northwest of Los Angeles. AFP PHOTO/ MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
APTOPIX California Oil Spill
A bird covered in oil flaps its wings at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif., Thursday, May 21, 2015. More than 7,700 gallons of oil has been raked, skimmed and vacuumed from a spill that stretched across 9 miles of California coast, just a fraction of the sticky, stinking goo that escaped from a broken pipeline, officials said. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
US-OIL-POLLUTION
Pelicans fly above the oil polluted water at Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California, May 22, 2015. The oil company behind a crude spill on the California coast vowed to do the 'right thing' to clear up the mess, even as reports emerged of past leaks involving its pipelines. Plains All American Pipeline made the pledge as it said nearly 8,000 gallons of oil had been scooped up, out of some 21,000 gallons believed to have flooded into the ocean near Santa Barbara, northwest of Los Angeles. AFP PHOTO/ MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Along Santa Barbara Coast
GOLETA, CALIFORNIA - MAY 20: An oil-covered lobster lies dead on the beach after an oil spill near Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015 north of Goleta, California. About 21,000 gallons spilled from an abandoned pipeline on the land near Refugio State Beach, spreading over about four miles of beach within hours. The largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters at the time occurred in the same section of the coast where numerous offshore oil platforms can be seen, giving birth to the modern American environmental movement. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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