Don't rush back into the Gulf

Now that crude oil no longer oozes over vast stretches of the Gulf of Mexico or coats beaches in four states, pressure is building - not from BP's Deepwater Horizon blown-out well, where a cap installed last month seems to be holding, but from oil companies determined to resume offshore drilling, fishermen anxious to get back on their boats, restaurant and hotel owners struggling to lure back tourists and politicians eager to put the catastrophe behind them.

President Barack Obama certainly attempted to demonstrate last week that the worst of the crisis had passed when he posed for a White House-approved photo while swimming with his daughter Sasha, 9, at Florida's Panama City Beach.

And earlier this week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) repeated its optimistic assessment, first issued Aug. 4, that half the 200 million gallons of oil spilled since the April 20 blowout had been burned, skimmed, dispersed or simply evaporated.

What's more, the fall shrimping season began in the Gulf this week and the state of Alabama reopened coastal waters to fishing. Government officials previously had reopened other sections of the Gulf after similarly minimizing the risks.

But other scientists have challenged these assurances and warn of potential long-term health risks.

Researchers at the University of Georgia say about three-quarters of the oil continues to lurk below the surface and may pose a threat to the ecosystem.

"The oil is still out there and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are," Charles Hopkinson, who helped head the university's research team, told The Associated Press.

A separate study released by scientists from the University of South Florida found that oil in sediments of an underwater canyon in the Gulf was at levels toxic to critical marine organisms.

Perhaps the most ominous report was published Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which warned that the spill still poses threats to human health and seafood safety.

It concluded that shrimp, oysters, crabs and other invertebrates found in the Gulf have difficulty clearing their systems of dangerous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, levels of mercury from the oil might slowly increase over time by being consumed by fish lower in the food chain and becoming concentrated in the larger fish, the study warned.

We understand the desire of those who live around and make their living from the Gulf to get back to business, but officials must heed these warnings, or else we may pay an even higher price in the future.