Due to a third leak being discovered, the current Gulf oil spill from the downed BP drilling rig off the coastline of Louisiana may now be dumping more than five times more oil into the gulf than originally estimated.
The Coast Guard has approximated the spill at 210,000 gallons of oil per day are leaking ino the Gulf of Mexico. While the initial estimate was set at 42,000 gallons of oil per day, BP disputes the number but has welcomed the aid of the Defense Department in controlling and stopping the leak. http://www.dailyfinance.com/article/bp-exec-gulf-oil-leak-may-be-larger-than/993853/
A controlled burn was done yesterday in an attempt to minimize some of the damage but there are still roughly 400 animal species that will be put at harm once the spill reaches the Louisana coastline. This could happen as soon as Friday.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "The area under threat produces the largest total seafood landings in the lower 48 states, is a vital wintering or resting spot for more than 70 percent of the nation's waterfowl, is used by all 110 neo-tropical migratory songbirds, and produces 50 percent of the nation's wild shrimp crop, 35 percent of its blue claw crabs and 40 percent of its oysters."
Forecasts in Louisiana are calling for 20 mile per hour winds and this could easily move the oil spill past the shoreline and into the fragile ecosystem of the Louisiana marshes.
Closer to home, Vermont's Lake Champlain has its own share of concerns for its largest watershed. Learn how to protect our natural resources here in Vermont at the Lake Champlain Basin Program's website
Sources: nola.com, pbs.org.
Photo: This April 28, 2010 photo released by Greenpeace, shows an aerial view of the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread. The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is even worse than believed and as the government grows concerned that the rig's operator is ill-equipped to contain it, officials are offering a military response to try to avert a massive environmental disaster along the ecologically fragile U.S. coastline. (AP Photo/Greenpeace)
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