Former MBARI president Marcia McNutt is tough cop in BP cleanup.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 Thousands of miles from its home in the
Monterey Bay, a robot gulped oily Gulf of Mexico water and sent
information about the oil plume to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. And in June, when scientists were
estimating that between 12,600 and 40,000 barrels per day were
escaping from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, U.S. Geological
Survey Director Marcia McNutt – former president and chief
executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute – boldly told reporters that current estimates were
likely too low. The correct amount was more in the
50,000-barrel-a-day range, she said. Since scientists were not
ready to make those assumptions yet, she added, “I’ll make them
for them,” prompting the New York Times headline, “USGS Director
Quietly Wages ‘Fearless’ War on Oil Spill.” Shortly afterward,
the federal government upped its numbers, confirming McNutt’s
statement. Monterey Bay researchers and