Gulf Scene Investigation - Oil analysis

(music) 2.2 trillion dollars: The value of goods and services Produced in the Gulf of Mexico. Much of this economic activity comes from natural resources. Voice of Shane Cockerham: I was fishing. We heard an oil platform blew up. Three days after that it actually burned to the ground. We have an oil leak. What we're concerned with is, what are our long term effects going to be? Where are we going to be in five years? Gulf Scene Investigation: Oil Analysis (Music) One year after the Deepwater BP oil spill, state and federal agency partners have collected almost 30,000 samples to determine impacts to the Gulf's natural resources. It's an unprecedented number of samples compared to any other U.S. oil spill. Different types of samples are analyzed for different reasons. Today, we'll show you samples used to inform the Natural Resource Damage Assessment–the process that determines how an oil spill affects the environment and ensures the responsible parties pay for restoration. (Eight centimeters.) (Music) From Field to Lab Scientists are still collecting more samples in the field. The samples are transported to the lab in coolers and checked in at a receiving facility. The coolers are sealed with custody tape to protect samples from tampering. Each sample is checked for integrity, assigned a lab ID, and logged into a database. This allows scientists to track samples through the analysis process. (Music) The Dissection Hi, I'm Jeff Hardenstine and today we're going to dissect a giant isopod known as batheonomus gigantus. They are found at depths of about 1,200 to 2,400 feet. This creature was collected in the deep water, in the Gulf of Mexico. Isopods are crustaceans and they can be found on the land or in water. I'm going to remove this muscle from underneath his belly and these are going to be one of the samples we're going to analyze for chemicals found in oil. And when this guy curls up in a ball, he'll take those muscles and curl himself up and he can hide and look like that, just like those pill bugs underneath the wood in your back yard. A typical analysis of an isopod or any kind of tissue sample is about three weeks. (Music) Sample Extraction Before oil analysis begins, scientists must first extract the compounds related to oil or other contaminants from the samples. This can take 1 to 2 days for water samples and 5 to 6 days for tissue and sediment samples. The extraction process is similar to pouring hot water through coffee grounds to make coffee. (Music) Computer Analysis The extracts are then injected into two different instruments for computer analysis. They separate the compounds and identify them. Scientists will be looking for several classes of compounds related to petroleum and oil. It takes about 90 minutes for each extract to run its course on each instrument. (music) Making Sense of the Data This is the data output from the instruments. It's called a chromatogram. The peaks help scientists determine what and how much of a compound is in each sample. Scientists evaluate the data against quality control samples to be certain there were no errors in the analysis process. All data are entered into a database and go through at least 5 levels of review, including a third party quality control reviewer who validates the data for accuracy. Reporting the Results In total, samples can take 3 to 8 weeks to analyze depending on the type of sample. Review and validation can take several more weeks. So, with tens of thousands of samples to analyze, reporting results publicly can take months. More than 15,000 chemical analyses have been completed and validated to date. While the process of properly analyzing samples takes time, it will help ensure a complete understanding of the impacts of this disaster. To see results and to learn more about the damage assessment and restoration process, please visit www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov End