We Did the Math: BP Oil Spill Is Now Worse Than the Exxon Valdez

The U.S. Coast Guard is saying today that the "top kill" procedure looks like it's having success at stemming BP's oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. We hope they're right. In the meantime, you can now say that the BP oil spill is the worst in our nation's history, eclipsing the 11 million gallons spill by the Exxon Valdez. In a teleconference this morning, U.S. Geological Survey head Marcia McNutt released the new estimates by her scientists trying to gauge the flow rate of the oil leak. There were two teams working—one watching the surface and the other monitoring the video feed from the leak site. The low estimate is now 12,000 barrels per day, but it may be more like 19,000 to 25,000, the teams found. (The previous estimate, repeated throughout the first month of the spill, was just 5,000 barrels per day). McNutt wouldn't say explicitly if ...