Estimates that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a lot larger than BP says it is have been simmering for days. And now it looks like they are correct.
The company's official line, adopted from NOAA's hasty guess (which itself is based on an outdated technique for measuring the size of a spill) is that there are 5,000 barrel of oils a day gushing from the sea floor.
But this weekend, scientists at sea in the gulf found several underwater plumes of oil. At least one of the plumes measures ten miles long by three miles wide and 300 feet thick in some places, according to Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia. The revised estimate for oil flow could be more than a factor of ten greater than thought, according to an article in the New York Times:
Scientists studying video of the gushing oil well have tentatively calculated that it could be flowing at a rate of 25,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day.
These newly discovered underwater plumes represent a whole new set of threats for marine life in the region. And there are indications that this plume is about to hitch a ride on the Gulf Loop Current, which could spread the devastation through the Florida Keys and up to North Carolina.
In short, the situation seems to get worse by the day.
But you've got to give BP credit for staying on message and remaining essentially in control of the news: apart from the few items mentioned here, just about every report available still parrots the 5,000 barrels/day estimate. With luck, news of the giant hidden oil plumes will torpedo their little spin machine and open people's eyes to the true (and ever-growing) magnitude of this catastrophe.
Video: Associated Press
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