BP Oil Spill Estimates Barely Scratch The Surface According To Scientists
The BP oil spill is still getting a lot of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, even after BP’s “success†over the weekend. After three weeks of continuous spillage, some scientists believe there is far more to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico than what can be seen on the surface. What’s more, these deep, undersea plumes of oil are approaching a current that could carry the oil spill to the Florida Keys and beyond.
Little too late for BP oil response?
The BP oil spill response has had many failed attempts. Monday the BP oil spill response team announced that company engineers had inserted a metal tube into the end of the broken pipe that is allowing some of the oil that was spilled to be siphoned to a surface ship. Voice of America reports that BP Vice President Kent Wells says the method will reduce the amount of oil spewing into the water. The next step is to try to pump mud and other materials to the sea floor and block the well.
The Gulf coast oil spill with 30 million gallons and counting
Based on BP and U.S. Coast Guard estimates, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 has already dumped nearly 5.67 million gallons into the sea, — an easy payday loan compared to the cleanup costs that may be required for other estimates. As reported at skytruth.org, Dr. Ian MacDonald from Florida State University produced an estimate based on the U.S. Coast Guard aerial over flight map of the oil slick on April 28 that suggests a minimum flow rate of slightly more than 1.1 million gallons of oil (26,500 barrels) per day. We’re now in Day 27 of the spill, which began with a blowout and explosion on April 20, so according to those estimates more than 30 million gallons may have been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Other scientists have estimated the spill at up to 3.4 million gallons a day.
Deep undersea plumes in the Gulf Coast oil spill
With the official estimates of the Exxon Valdez spill at 11 million gallons a day, the BP oil leak makes it look like nothing. Although the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to reach the shoreline for the most part, the New York Times reports that scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in deeper waters, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf. Scientists believe the oxygen levels will go so low that they will kill most undersea life near the plumes.
Oil spill may drift to Florida Keys
The Gulf of Mexico 2010 oil spill is going closer to a Loop Current. Reuters reports that scientists say once the BP oil leak is in the loop, it could reach the Florida Keys in just 10 days. This loop is simply a ribbon of warm water that starts in the Gulf of Mexico and courses around Florida. There are scientists that think the current will draw the oil slick through the keys and then north up Florida’s Atlantic Coast. They think the spill could miss Miami and Fort Lauderdale but wash up around Palm Beach.
Tropical marine life endangered by Gulf Coast oil spill
On the course to defile the third longest barrier reef in the world, the 221 mile long Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the oil spill may lead to millions of tourist dollars leaving Florida’s floundering economy. The toxic oil slick can smother and kill the corals, causing a chain reaction of carnage among thousands of species of exotic marine life that live in and around reefs.
Resources for the article
Personal Money Store
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2010/05/03/oil-spill-in-gulf-of-mexico-2010-cost/
skytruth.org
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html
New York Times reports
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html
Reuters reports
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9FORQS01