Oil in the Gulf, two months later
62 days have passed since the initial explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crude oil and natural gas continue to gush from the seafloor. Re-revised estimates now place the flow rate at up to 60,000 barrels a day - a figure just shy of a worst-case estimate of 100,000 barrels a day made by BP in an internal document recently released by a congressional panel. Louisiana's state treasurer has estimated environmental and economic damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could range from $40 billion to $100 billion. Collected here are recent photographs from the Gulf of Mexico, and of those affected by the continued flow of oil and gas into the ocean. (37 photos total)
Representative Steve Scalise holds up a photo of a pelican covered in oil as he questions BP CEO Tony Hayward during a House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on "The Role Of BP In The Deepwater Horizon Explosion And Oil Spill", in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 17, 2010. (ROD LAMKEY JR/AFP/Getty Images) #
In this June 18, 2010 satellite image provided by NASA, Oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig was visible on the surface of Gulf of Mexico. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite took this picture. The oil appears as varying shades of white, as sunlight is reflected off its surface. (AP Photo/NASA) #
This digitally enhanced satellite image captured by DigitalGlobe on June 15, 2010 and released June 17, 2010 shows part of the oil spill clean up effort in the Gulf of Mexico. This image leverages the different sensor bands of DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 satellite to highlight the oil and dispersant. (REUTERS/DigitalGlobe) #
Marc Provencher, a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and based in Anderson, California, tries to catch a brown pelican covered with oil at Empire Jetty in the Gulf of Mexico, near Venice, Louisiana, June 15, 2010. Birds are caught and then cleaned at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) #
Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Management Director P. J. Hahn holds up an oil-stained Sandwich Tern in Long Bay on June 19, 2010 west of Port Sulpher, Louisiana. The bird was reported and delivered to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for rehabilitation. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) #
Jars of water mixed with oil that were collected from the Gulf Coast waters of Louisiana and Alabama are stacked in front of Gulf Coast residents as they attend a news conference on Capitol Hill June 16, 2010 in Washington, DC. About 90 residents from the Gulf Coast participated in a news conference to tell stories on how the oil spill has impacted their lives and to call on for a clean energy future. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) #
Lawrence "Chine" Terrebonne makes fishing net in Chine's Cajun Net Shop on June 16, 2010 in Galliano, Louisiana. Due to the bans on fishing in many areas of the Gulf, Terrebonne, who has been making nets for 61 years, has experienced a drop-off in orders for new nets. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #
Out of work shrimper Nolan Guidry stands beside his boat while waiting to be granted permission to go shrimping again due to the ban on fishing in much of the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill June 13, 2010 in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. Guidry, who must now subsist off of meager checks from BP, has been shrimping his entire life and comes from generations of shrimpers. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #More links and informationFor the Crew of a Drill Ship, a Routine Task, a Far-From-Routine Goal - NYTimes.com, 6/20Estimates of Oil Flow Jump Higher - NYTimes.com, 6/17Partner Accuses BP of Recklessness - NYTimes.com, 6/18
via boston.com