"dispersants don't make the oil go away, they just make it harder to find"

[Syrinx]

CNN's Ed Lavandera just said it better than I had heard.

BP needs to knock off the cosmetic approach that's only making the situation worse.

[dipsydoodle]

1. That's why they're called dispersants.

They break it into droplets which in theory cannot then recombine. Yes - droplets are harder to find than an oil slick.

I'm guessing Ed Lavandera looked it up in either a dictionary of wiki.

[Syrinx]

4. dispersants should be a last resort

They make the oil fade from view. But it is still there. Poisoning everything.

[stray cat]

2. Dispersed oil biodegrades more easily than a matt of thick oil is the idea

[BeFree]

3. Maybe, we will see

We do know a dispersant makes oil much harder to collect, and we know that the oil will last almost almost forever - that some of it never degrades. Made harder to collect, it will be around far longer.

Indeed, if it were possible, all that wasted oil directed to beaches, while riding on top of the water, could be cleaned up. In the marshes and in the depths of the water, forget it. It is there forever. Thanks, BP.

[Syrinx]

5. We'd stand a better chance of removing a matte of thick black oil

Than trillions of little droplets is the better idea.