According to a new government assessment, twice as much oil gushed from the damaged BP oil well before the most recent containment effort than had been originally estimated. This new measurement, based on the leakage before BP cut the riser pipe of the leaking well on June 3, revealed that about 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil have been entering the Gulf each day (significantly greater than the 12,000 to 19,000 barrels previously announced). The revised calculation means that the amount of oil equivalent to that in the Exxon Valdez disaster may have been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every eight to ten days.
New Estimates Double Rate of Oil That Flowed Into Gulf [NYT]
