"The Exxon Valdez is going to pale [into insignificance] in comparison to this as it goes on."

[CLANG]

Rear Admiral Mary Landry said 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day were now thought to be gushing into the sea 50 miles (80km) off Louisiana's coast.

A third leak had also been discovered at the site, Adm Landry said.

One fire-fighting expert told the BBC the disaster might become the "biggest oil spill in the world".

"Probably the only thing comparable to this is the Kuwait fires ," Mike Miller, head of Canadian oil well fire-fighting company Safety Boss, told BBC World Service.

"The Exxon Valdez is going to pale in comparison to this as it goes on."

If US Coast Guard estimates are correct, the slick could match the 11m gallons spilt from the Exxon Valdez within less than two months.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8650620.stm

This is going to make Katrina look like a pool party.:cry:

[JackintheGreen]

1. Drill, baby, drill?

/sarcasm

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. See, Fundies? God's mad at YOU, down here in the Bible Belt.

Seriously, I am deeply furious.

[tekisui]

3. Obama, here is your chance to go back on your awful decision to open

the shores to more of these accidents.

[spanone]

4. i wish he would although he proposed no new drilling in the gulf

[tekisui]

7. Are you sure?

I thought there was an area, in green, to be expanded in the gulf.

[malaise]

5. +1,000

:hi:

[bullwinkle428]

9. How long before the Repukes accuse him of orchestrating the

entire event, as a kind of "super-double-top-secret trickeration" way of enhancing the current ban on off-shore drilling, without having to actually push for it directly?

[tekisui]

10. How long before the party-liners here claim the same?

[lunatica]

6. The Exxon Valdez didn't have practically unlimited oil in it

I think it paled in comparison as soon as this disaster happened. The worst part is that all the oil rigs have the potential of creating more devastation than what 'good' they may be creating. How long, if not already, will it cost more for this disaster than wealth it created over the years? I think the answer is not long at all. It may have already wiped out every cent of wealth it generated.

Louisiana will become a no-life state soon. A barren cesspool that may well be the first domino to topple in dragging this country into a utter physical and financial ruin. Clogging the mouth of the Mississippi River will affect the entire Midwest first and the rest of the country later.

One small example, where will the floodwaters go when vast oil detritus clings to the Mississippi Delta. The answer is very simple and very devastating.

[Odin2005]

8. Big Oil = EVIL.

[cbdo2007]

11. I heard that all of the oceans will switch from water to oil because of this...

well, if it leaks long enough.

[Turbineguy]

12. I doubt it.

At current rate this leak would have to go on for 51 days. I think it will be capped or diverted long before that. This is nothing like the Exxon Valdez. This is an open pipe. Not a ripped open hull.

[CLANG]

13. The "experts" are saying 2-3 months.

[hatrack]

15. And if it does last that long, plenty of time for the oil to reach Florida's west coast

That'll give the tourism industry a nice boost, now won't it?

[Turbineguy]

16. Well, I'm not an expert

and I don't play one on TeeVee.

[cbdo2007]

18. Right if it isn't capped it will go on for infinity amount of time.

But the point is that they are working all day every day to cap it and stop the leak.

Until then we should all stop driving our cars and using plastic to help conserve oil and make a statement.

[Nihil]

19. Ha ha ha - nice one!

> Until then we should all stop driving our cars and using plastic
> to help conserve oil and make a statement.

:spray:

in America???

:rofl:

[CLANG]

22. It would be possible if the entire US populous lived in Louisiana/Mississippi.

[CLANG]

17. There was a limit to the amount of oil in the tanker - not so much here.

Oil is going to start washing ashore on Friday in Louisiana. Then you will see a lot of people panicking. If you are speaking only of oil volume spilled, it may not ultimately be close to the ExVal, but the IMPACT on heavily populated and tourist areas in the gulf will pale to the impact to ordinary Americans of the Alaska spill.

This is completely uncharted territory.

[HughMoran]

14. This is absolutely horrible

I heard this on NPR this morning - what a disaster :(

[FLPanhandle]

20. This could destroy the economy of the gulf coast

Seafood and tourism are two legs the economy down here stands on.

Restaurants, hotels, charter fishing, diving, and shrimpers have struggled through this economy and are counting on a good summer to exist. If this takes out the summer season, there will be a massive number of bankruptcies.

[greencharlie]

21. what a freekin' mess!!! nt

[Turbineguy]

23. Details and pictures

http://media.tmmarket.com/marex/media/pdf/Deepwater_Horizon.pdf