Tar balls have entered Lake Pontchartrain, and it's all because of the disperants pushing oil far below the reach of skimmers.
St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis said Wednesday that the dispersants being used to break down the oil in the Gulf of Mexico are causing the tar balls to travel underwater, later resurfacing beyond the protective walls of the barges. He urged officials with the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command to cease the use of dispersants, so crews can see the reddish-brown oil and fight it farther out.
They're continuing to pump the dispersants directly into the plume. Obviously, it's going to be many years of this because there's no way to see the extent and volume of the oil from the surface. Which is exactly what BP wants.