Scientists are questioning the Obama administration’s claim that most of the oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico is gone and that the remainder poses less of an environmental danger. In a report issued on Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the “vast majority” of the estimated 205.8 million gallons of oil from the well has evaporated or been burned, skimmed, dispersed or captured. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said scientists have accounted for all but a quarter of the spilled oil.

Jane Lubchenco: “We can account for all but about 26 percent, and of that, much of that is being — in the process of being degraded and cleaned up on the shore. I think it’s important to point out that at least 50 percent of the oil that was released is now completely gone from the system, and most of the remainder is degrading rapidly or is being removed from the beaches.”

Speaking on NBC’s Today Show, White House energy adviser Carol Browner echoed the claim.

Carol Browner: “The vast majority of the oil is gone. It
was cleaned up. It was burned. It was skimmed. It was contained. Mother Nature did its part. Really is good news. I think it’s a testament to the response that we launched.”

Critics say that the oil has, at best, been dispersed, but not necessarily removed from the Gulf. Some scientists who worked on the report also say it contains a heavy margin of error. According to the Washington Post, the formula used for determining how much oil has evaporated is designed for spills near the surface, not deep underwater. A government scientist who helped author the report said it did not include an actual calculation of whether the dispersed oil has vanished from the Gulf. The scientist, Bill Lehr, said the report instead relied on assumptions based on previous spills. Even taking government figures as legitimate, the amount of oil in the Gulf would still be nearly five times the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.