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CBS News has more on their site and have been following this story in great detail.
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SkyTruth image from 4.28 actually reveals that Oil Slick is 10 miles from NOLA shore.
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It's bad enough that this disaster happened after a horrendous explosion,fire and 11 dead and more injured.Originally the News sources kept saying it was not that bad a disaster.(After Valdez how any news source could downgrade a disaster is beyond me). Tonight the story took a shift and it was said that there would be an announcement at 10PM from the Coast Guard.
NOAA updated Wednesday Fact sheet that shows how the Oil Explosion Leak/Disaster is growing by the hour. As of tonight NOAA and the Coast Guard have expanded the Leak Estimates to 5000 barrels/day ( 212,500 gallons a day,based on 42.5 gallons per barrel). Many News Sources are starting to voice concerns that it may be the biggest Oil Disaster in American History.
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Reuters has more about the growing Slick and the efforts of all involved to contain the Oil Slick that is growing.
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Yahoo News has more on the details and points out that NOAA and HLS both agreed that the original 1000 barrels a day was inaccurate.
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O.Willis in his post points out that the Leak is litterally Pumping 210,000 gallons into the gulf per day at this point. Also big hat tip to him also for finding the NASA photo of how dire this Slick really is.
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This video from the AP has more about setting fire to the slick in an attempt to prevent it from reaching Shoreline,also show visually how toxic the slick looks....:
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3AM LATimes does indeed perdict that it will be worse than the Exxon Valdez Spill.
Snippett from LA Times:
"Officials predict the oil could reach the Louisiana coast by Friday, somewhere near the Mississippi Delta.The nonprofit environmental group SkyTruth warned that the growing disaster "could soon surpass the sorry benchmark 20 years ago set by the 11 million gallon Exxon Valdez spill."
Based on an analysis of radar satellite images of the spill, SkyTruth calculated that at least 6 million gallons had already entered the gulf — at a rate of about 20,000 barrels a day. (An oil barrel is 42 gallons.)SkyTruth posted its estimates on its website, SkyTruth.org, before the Coast Guard announced its new leak estimates.Crews continued to fight the spill, which was 600 miles in circumference and about 23 miles offshore. BP leased the rig and is responsible for the cleanup.
After days of sucking up the oil-water sheen with special ships and barges and spraying chemical dispersants from planes, crews set a controlled burn Wednesday to rid the sea of some of the oil.Crews set ablaze a modest amount of oil that was ringed by a flame-retardant boom, said Daren Beaudo, a BP spokesman. If that succeeds, the oil company could set more fires to burn off more oil.
BP's Suttles said crews were making every effort to keep the oil offshore. But anticipating the worst, they had put down more than 100,000 feet of protective boom intermittently along stretches near the shoreline, from the mouth of the Mississippi River east to Mobile Bay, Ala.
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I do encourage that you read up on the Imagery by SkyTruth.Org, their website has updates and you can also follow them on Twitter, Their work is very thorough....
This post will be updated tomorrow......
3 comments:
11:30PM wed nite.
So if the Leak really is leaking 5000barrels/day-that is 212,500 gallons...that means in 5 days-
1,062,500 gallons...
( and if indeed there is a 2nd leak...this will be hard to get under control)
Tonight they were going to start attempting to burn it off....as a way to control the disaster.
Valdez disaster:
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever to occur in history. As significant as the Valdez spill was, it ranks well down on the list of the world's largest oil spills in terms of volume released.[1] However, Prince William Sound's remote location (accessible only by helicopter, plane and boat) made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing plans for response. The region was a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds. The vessel spilled 10.8 million U.S. gallons (about 40 million litres) of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into the sea, and the oil eventually covered 1,300 square miles (3,400 km2) of ocean.[2]
Reuters::::
At midday Wednesday, the edge of the spill was 23 miles off the Louisiana coast, near fragile estuaries and swamps teeming with birds and other wildlife. A shift in winds could push the spill inland to the Louisiana coast by this weekend, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.
Tarballs and emulsified oil streamers could reach the Mississippi Delta region late on Friday, said Charlie Henry, an expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Along with a large seafood industry, the area contains key wildlife habitats in the Pass-A-Loutre Wildlife Management Area and Breton National Wildlife Refuge on the Louisiana coast, which are teeming with nesting birds.
"It's premature to say this is catastrophic," said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, who is heading the federal cleanup effort. "I will say this is very serious."
The spill could be devastating for fishermen and oystermen that rely on estuaries and swamps along the Mississippi River for their livelihood. For a factbox of potential environmental impacts, follow the link.
"We're sitting here half praying and half with our fingers, toes and everything else crossed," said Byron Encalade, president of the Louisiana Oysterman Association in Pointe A La Hache, who lost five boats when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
As the oil spill grows, so does the chance that it will affect efforts by the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama to open more offshore areas to limited oil and gas drilling.
"This brings home the issue that drilling despite all the advancements in technology is still a risky busines
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