Government Increases Oil Leak Estimates

The government has increased its estimates of how much oil is leaking into the Gulf:

A government panel raised its estimate of the flow rate from BP’s damaged well yet again on Tuesday, declaring that as much as 60, 000 barrels a day could be gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

That is roughly 2.5 million gallons of oil a day, and it means an amount equal to the Exxon Valdez spill could be gushing from the well about every four days.

The flow was already categorized as the largest offshore oil spill in the nation’s history, but the new figures sharply increase previous estimates. Scientists on Tuesday estimated that the flow rate ranged from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day — up from the rate they issued only last week, of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day. It continues a pattern in which every new estimate of the flow rate has been dramatically higher than the one before.

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