The US Coast Guard has said five times as much oil as previously thought is leaking from a well beneath where a rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico last week. 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day have been gushing into the sea 50 miles off Louisiana's coast. They attempted to save some environmentally fragile wetlands nearby so they "control burned" the surface oil east of the Mississippi river delta. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering all aspects of the situation before formulating a plan of action. Mississippi's Governor is teaming up with the federal government to contain and resolve the issue before it reaches the mouth of the river delta. When that happens the entire river will become contaminated and the organisms living in that ecosystem will be affected; not to mention all the wetlands in the area. Louisiana is home to over 40% of the nation's wetlands. Also, their water sources will be contaminated, causing problems on a large scale level. The US Coast Guard and British oil company BP are working together to gather up as much of the oil as they can and transport it to a 5 mile "burn zone" inside the slick, where BP will commence controlled burns as long as the weather stays favorable. BP is engaged in several possible solutions, but none of which are either operational at this point or intended for such a large scale operation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8650620.stm
Submitted by: Nate Heberlein
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