Reaping What We Sow

"A lot of [the leaked oil from the BP rig] is diffused now in deep layers," said Felder, who is coordinating a seven-volume scientific encyclopedia on the Gulf. "It's like it's under the rug. You can't see it on the surface, so it's kind of out of sight, out of mind. But it's not out of mind to most of the biologists who are concerned about its long-term effects."

There are many uncertainties about how much has spilled.

[...]

Originally, BP and the federal government said 42,000 gallons were flowing per day. Then the number was upped to 210,000 and that's been the best case scenario, with calculations that the spill didn't start until April 24.

The best case scenario seems increasingly unlikely. On Thursday, BP acknowledged more oil than that is pouring into the Gulf. The company said its makeshift tube put in place to suck up the leak is siphoning 210,000 gallons a day into a barge — the full amount of oil the company said was leaking. Yet, there's still lots of oil flowing out into the Gulf that can now be seen live on a webcam.

"Anyone can look at that and determine that even though it can't be metered or measured, it's significantly less than it was," said company spokesman Steve Rinehart. "That suggests pretty clearly that taking 5,000 barrels a day (210,000 gallons) out of that stream puts a real dent in it."

  

How encouraging. A dent. And only after...how many weeks of unfettered gushing?

"Originally, BP and the federal government said 42,000 gallons were flowing per day."

The federal government obviously taking BP's word for it. And so I repeat the quote of the century from Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation: "The Gulf of Mexico is a crime scene, and the perpetrator cannot be left in charge of assessing the damage."

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.