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.

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The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.