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Gulf Spill May Be 5 Times Bigger Than First Thought

Now that a third leak has been discovered at the site of the well where a
rig sank last week, the United States Coast Guard said five times more oil
than first thought could be spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. The slick,
which was partially burned on Wednesday in an effort to slow its steady
march toward the coastline, could be growing by 5,000 barrels, or 210,000
gallons, a day. "The leak now appears so great that it's calculated that
in less than two months it could match the 11m-gallon spill from the oil
tanker Exxon Valdez off Alaska in 1989," the BBC reported. The Coast
Guard's Admiral Landry "said experts from the National Oceanic Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) had increased their estimate for the leak based of
aerial surveys, applying dispersants, studying the trajectory of the
slock, local weather conditions, and other factors." Experts are worried
that, under current conditions, the oil could reach Louisiana's coast by
Friday evening. Governor Bobby Jindal requested emergency assistance from
the federal government and President Obama offered to have the Department
of Defense help to contain the spill.

Read original story in BBC News

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It's too bad the slick is headed for Louisiana instead of Texas. If it
were headed for Texas, Governor Rick Perry could tell us how unnecessary
the federal government was.


There were a number of posters here who were frothing at the mouth at the
thought of drilling off the Florida coast.
I wonder if they're as excited today?