Scientists: Oil leaking up to 2.52M gallons daily
PENSACOLA, FL
A government panel of scientists said that the ruptured well is
leaking between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day of oil.
That is an increase over previous estimates that put the maximum
size of the spill at 2.1 million gallons per day.
"This estimate brings together several scientific methodologies
and the latest information from the sea floor, and represents a
significant step forward in our effort to put a number on the oil
that is escaping from BP's well," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said
in a statement.
The latest numbers reflect an increase in the flow that
scientists believe happened after undersea robots earlier this
month cut off a kinked pipe near the sea floor that was believed to
be restricting the flow of oil, just as a bend in a garden hose
reduces water flow. BP officials has estimated that cutting the
kinked pipe likely increased the flow by up 20 percent.
The pipe was removed so BP could install a containment cap that
is trapping leaking oil and drawing it a ship waiting on the ocean
surface.
The new numbers are based on a combination of scientific data,
including an analysis of high-resolution video taken by underwater
robots, pressure meters, sonar, and measurements of oil collected
by the containment device on top of the well.
It is the fourth -- and perhaps not last -- time the federal
government has had to increase its estimate of how much oil is
gushing. At one point, the federal government claimed only 42,000
gallons were spilling a day and then it upped the number to 210,000
gallons.