Latest updates and pictures from the Gulf oil spill

This false-color image from space shows the Gulf oil spill in cyan contrasted with the water. NASA, Public Domain

If everything goes as planned British Petroleum may be able to completely contain the Gulf oil leak by early next week.  However, some experts are saying it is already too late as the expanding oil spill comes ashore in Louisiana and hits the Gulf current loop.  The full scale of the of the disaster may never be known as much of the spill is causing damage deep underwater.  Scientists have never seen this much oil let go underwater so they honestly do not know what to expect.  Here are the latest updates of what we do know about the Gulf oil spill.  The latest pictures from the disaster can be seen below.

-  British Petroleum now claims that are siphoning off 5,000 barrels of oil a day.  According to earlier estimates of the oil leak, that should mean all of the leak is now being siphoned.  Unfortunately, a live feed of the oil leak shows that, in fact, a lot of oil is still leaking out of the pipeline.  This mathematical impossibility has forced BP to concede that the earlier 5,000 barrel-a-day estimate was wrong.  Some experts are saying anywhere form 40,000-90,000 barrels are actually leaking out.  If that is true, BP is capturing just a small fraction of the oil with the siphon.

-  The EPA is no longer allowing BP to use its chemical dispersant of choice on the spill.  BP has been using a disperant called Corexit 9500 which is more toxic than other dispersants and much more toxic than oil.  According to some estimates, BP has used over one million gallons of the dispersant.  Louisiana officials objected to the use of any dispersant underwater, but the EPA approved.  Now the EPA has ordered BP to find an alternative chemical dispersant in 24 hours and starting using a different, less toxic dispersant in the next 72 hours.

-  Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has already proposed legislation that would provide millions in relief to the Gulf Coast states.  The money would come from the royalties received from oil companies to drill offshore.  However, the legislation has come under fire already for excluding Florida in the disbursement of funds.

-  BP has now been forced to provide a live feed of the oil leak 5,000 feet below the ocean surface.  However, the website providing the feed quickly crashed from all the demand.  If the website ever does start working you can see the live feed here. 

-  The most recent forecast of the spill from NOLA can be seen here.  According to the projection, the spill will continue to impact Louisiana, but thankfully stay off the coast of Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow.

-  Thad Allen, the Coast Guard Admiral in charge of the clean up effort, is set to retire at the end of this month, but he has said he will keep serving until the catastrophe is brought under control.  President Obama appointed Adm. Allen in charge of the government's effort after declaring the spill a national catastrophe. 

-  BP has stated the spill has cost them $625 million thus far.  The value of BP's stock has gone down $30 billion since the disaster began.  Some experts are saying the total bill could be in the tens of billions of dollars.