Scientists: Gulf oil spill larger than Exxon Valdez
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Ben Nuckols in Covington, Louisiana, and Andrew Taylor and Matthew Daly in Washington, Associated Press Writers
May 27, 2010 10:18 am US/Central COVINGTON, Louisiana (AP) ― The Gulf oil spill has surpassed the Exxon Valdez as the worst in U.S. history, according to new estimates released Thursday, but the Coast Guard and BP said an untested procedure to stop it seemed to be working. A team of scientists trying to figure out how much oil has been flowing since the offshore rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and sank two days later found the rate was at least twice and possibly up to five times as high as previously thought. Even using the most conservative estimate, that means the leak has grown to nearly 19 million gallons (72 million liters), surpassing the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, which at about 11 million gallons (42 million liters) had been the nation’s worst spill. Under the highest estimate, nearly 39 million gallons (148 million liters) may have spilled. U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt said two different teams of scientists calculated that the well has been spewing between 504,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) and more than 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) a day. BP and the Coast Guard estimated soon after the explosion that about 210,000 gallons (nearly 800,000 liters) a day was leaking, but scientists who watched underwater video of well had been saying for weeks it was probably more. … Though the spill is now the biggest in U.S. history, it’s not the biggest ever in the Gulf. An offshore drilling rig in Mexican waters — the Ixtoc I — blew up in June 1979, releasing 140 million gallons (529 million liters) of oil. Borenstein reported from Washington. Ben Nuckols in Covington, Louisiana, and Andrew Taylor and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.
