Oil spill grows to 3.5M gallons

This past weekend BP engineers attempted to stop, at least for the short-term, the massive oil spill in the Gulf Coast with a four-story box lowered atop the main leak. The project failed, leaving BP still scrambling to keep the Deepwater Horizon disaster from becoming the nation’s worst spill.

An estimated 3.5 million gallons have already risen from the depths since the April 20 explosion that killed 11. If the leak isn’t stopped clogged, by Father’s Day on June 20th, the spill will surpass the Exxon Valdez, which in 1989 spewed 10.8 million gallons of oil into the cold waters of Alaska’s Prince William, spreading almost 500 miles, and staining thousands of miles of coastline.

As the rig continues to leak crude at the rate of 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) per day, residents of the Gulf are bracing for how this will affect the fragile ecology of the Gulf. Reports show that the oil is already taking its toll:

• Tar balls, pieces of emulsified oil shaped like pancakes, ranging in size from dimes to golf balls, have been found on a beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama.
• Birds have appeared with oil stains on their bodies. Numerous have already died while others are being cleaned.
• Thick blobs of tar washed up on Alabama’s white sand beaches, further proof that the spill is spreading.
• Thousands of dead fish washed up on a Mississippi beach.
• The oil slick, which covers an area of 2,000 square miles, has surrounded island nature reserves off the coast of Louisiana.
• Sealife is being affected in a region that contains vital spawning grounds for fish, shrimp and crabs, and is the major migratory stop for many species of rare birds.
• The 2.4 billion dollar Louisiana fishing industry has been slapped with a temporary ban in certain areas due to health concerns from theoretically polluted fish.

What can you do?

Join the thousands who have sent a message to Obama thru the National Wildlife Federation. Have pics of the spill? Upload them onto flickr and tag them SPILL_NW10!