Dr. Jacqueline Michel , US geochemist ( 2010 interview – transcript of radio broadcast ) : The long term effects were very significant . There was no shoreline cleanup , essentially , over the 800 kilometres that the oil – - in Saudi Arabia . And so when we went back in to do quantitative survey in 2002 and 2003 , there was a million cubic meters of oil sediment remained then 12 years after the spill .... T he oil penetrated much more deeply into the intertidal sediment than normal because those sediments there have a lot of crab burrows , and the oil penetrated deep , sometimes 30 , 40 centimetres , you know a couple of feet , into the mud of these tidal flats . There ’s no way to get it out now . So it has had long term impact . Dr. Hans-Jörg Barth , German geographer ( 2001 research report ) : The study demonstrated that , in contrary to previously published reports e.g. already 1993 by UNEP , several coastal areas even in 2001 still show significant oil impact and in some places no recovery at all . The salt marshes which occur at almost 50 % of the coastline show the heaviest impact compared to the other ecosystem types after 10 years . Completely recovered are the rocky shores and mangroves . Sand beaches are on the best way to complete recovery . The main reason for the delayed recovery of the salt marshes is the absence of physical energy ( wave action ) and the mostly anaerobic milieu of the oiled substrates . The latter is mostly caused by cyanobacteria which forms impermeable mats . In other cases tar crusts are responsible . The availability of oxygen is the most important criteria for oil degradation . Where oil degrades it was obvious that benthic intertidal fauna such as crabs re-colonise the destroyed habitats long before the halophytes . The most important paths of regeneration are the tidal channels and the adjacent areas . Full recovery of the salt marshes will certainly need some centuries . The '' Financial Times '' , in reference to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , cited the 1993 optimistic assessment of the Gulf War oil spill as evidence that " Initial warnings of catastrophic environmental damage from oil spills can turn out to be overdone "
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Gulf War oil spill