It seems like some oil is still around to come ashore despite reports that most of the surface oil appears to be gone. Now the well is capped, and looks likely to be capped permanently in the next few days, it seems the worst of the spill may be behind us. However, there are concerns that some of the oil that seems to have disappeared may actually just be under the surface. The recent oiling of a Mississippi marsh may be due to sub-surface oil coming to the surface and washing into the marsh. Two aspects of this oiling are notable. 1) the marsh in an interior marsh not directly on the leading edge of the wetland, and 2) the oiling was unpredictable. The general consensus in the Gulf generally is that no further marshland is at risk because the oil is disappearing quickly. Obviously, this assumption must now be challenged. In order to protect marsh grasses from now on, it will be important to understand where this oil came from and other similar situations may be avoided. It is possible that visual inspection of oiled marshes may no longer enough. Period testing of the water for dissolved hydrocarbons might a method to detect rising levels, and the potential for damaging oiling.
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