At that depth, it can biodegrade more quickly, which is exactly what you want the oil to do.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing with Vice President Biden and Press Secretary Gibbs | The White House

Consider the impact of plastic water bottles, which take as long to biodegrade.

CNN: Hey Earthling, it's Earth Day; time for a quiz

"Instead of taking 18, 000 years to biodegrade into the ground, we're looking at getting it down to 150 years, " he says.

WSJ: To Meet the Biggest Wrap Stars, Stroll Through the Miami Airport

Produced water does not biodegrade, and when Donziger and his colleagues visited the Oriente they discovered that hundreds of oily pools pockmarked the rain forest.

NEWYORKER: Reversal of Fortune

The Navy has asked about PHA forks that biodegrade in seawater.

FORBES: Revving Up Nature's Engines

Lord Henley was also asked to consider labelling plastic bags with the length of time they take to biodegrade in an effort to discourage their use.

BBC: Plastic bag ban 'could be considered', minister says

It takes four times as much energy to produce a paper bag than it does plastic, and when they're dumped away in landfills, paper bags don't biodegrade any better than plastic.

FORBES: Magazine Article

He added that it was also "difficult to biodegrade".

BBC: Seabird deaths substance 'identified as oil substance'

And you said over time it would biodegrade.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

All oil will ultimately weather and biodegrade.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing on BP Oil Spill

Unlike organic compounds, plastic doesn't biodegrade.

CNN: Opinion: Creating a sea of change

Dispersed oil will biodegrade quicker.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing