Oil Spill
Each of the top ten biggest oil spills in history were greater than 30 million gallons (my calculations based on the wikipedia oil spill page). As of a few hours ago, the leak in the Gulf of Mexico has released less than 4 million gallons. The same source also has this interesting tidbit:
... several senior BP staff members, including its vice president for Gulf
drilling, were on board the rig during the accident because they were
commemorating 2,500 consecutive days without a significant safety incident on the Deepwater Horizon.
posted by My Freakwentness at 9:33 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the perspective.
Maybe the senior staff members met aboard the rig weekly to commemorate days without incident? Otherwise this sounds hugely coincidental.
kbs
Your same source, the wikipedia, quotes the WSJ projecting a nearly 100 million gallon spill before it is all said and done.
The figure of 5,000 barrels a day was hastily produced by government scientists in Seattle. It appears to have been calculated using a method that is specifically not recommended for major oil spills.
Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University who is an expert in the analysis of oil slicks, said he had made his own rough calculations using satellite imagery. They suggested that the leak could “easily be four or five times” the government estimate, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14oil.html
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