Scientists Say Effects of BP Spill is Worse than Thought

BRADENTON – Scientists at Penn State University say that damage to coral reefs near the site of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill is worse than previously understood. They have discovered two new coral reefs near the site. Both are deeper and further from the spill.

Research released Monday suggests that the catastrophe's deep water impact was greater than initially thought. Before the discovery of the additional reefs, there was only one coral reef that had been found to have been impacted by the spill.

Scientists say that this indicates that marine ecosystems could be more affected than once though and that at least some of the more than 200 million gallons of oil released into the Gulf of Mexico in the spill is effecting the deep sea of those waters..

“The footprint of the impact of the spill on coral communities is both deeper and wider than previous data indicated,” wrote PSU biology professor Charles Fisher, who led the study, in a release accompanying the report.