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How does the BP oil spill compare to the largest oil spill ever?
Easy Answer: If you accept the high end of the government's oil spill estimates, BP is now the largest spill in the Gulf.
But it's not the largest spill ever, not yet.
If you take the high end of the government's oil spill estimates, today's the day that the BP oil spill became the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Associated Press, 140.6 million gallons of oil have poured into the ocean since the BP blow out.
That tops the previous Gulf of Mexico record holder--the Ixtoc I, which spilled 140 million gallons off the coast of Mexico. That well was being drilled by a platform on lease to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).
But in 1991, during the Persian Gulf war, Iraqi forces dumped between 252 and 336 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.
According to PBS, worst case estimates for the BP spill have it spewing into the ocean at a rate of 4.2 million gallons a day. At that rate, the BP spill could be as large as 280 million gallons so far--bringing it into record range.
Hi John,
I was thinking the same thing--just wrote up a new Q&A.
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/marketplace/sustainability-answers/20...
Please submit your own answer too.
Hi, thanks for the statistics; just one comment here, on the use of language: Some news outlets (NPR's Here and Now, for example) as a matter of policy have stopped using the term "spill" for the disaster in the Gulf, and I wish you folks would also. Call it a blowout, a gusher, any synonym in that range you want, but PLEASE stop using the completely inaccurate and euphemistic term "spill."
