Scientist Says Oil Spill Much Bigger Than Initial Estimates

After an explosion killed eleven and sent the Deepwater Horizon rig to
the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the government estimated that the oil
leaking from the ocean floor was around 5,000 barrels per day. That
figure, 210,000 gallons, has been widely used in media stories
concerning the spill. One problem: It might be way too conservative.
After footage of the spill was released on Wednesday, Ian R. MacDonald,
an oceanographer at Florida State University and expert on oil slick
analysis, went to work using satellite imagery. He estimates the leak
could "'easily be four or five times' the government estimate," the New
York Times reported. "'The government has a responsibility to get good
numbers,' Dr. MacDonald said. 'If it's beyond their technical
capability, the whole world is ready to help them.'" It's important to
have an accurate figure, scientists argue, because it's directly related
to the damage the spill will cause both in the ocean and at the shore.
"BP has repeatedly said that its highest priority is stopping the leak,
not measuring it," the New York Times reported. "'There's just no way to
measure it,' Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said in a recent
briefing." But scientists who work primarily underwater have used
various measurement techniques for decades; the technology exists.

Original story in The New York Times | Friday, May 14, 2010
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