Oil Spill Environmental Update

This report is by the Center for Biological Diversity:

New Gulf Estimate: Oil Spill Worst Ever of its Kind
New government documents offer some scary assessments of the Gulf oil spill. The first was word that federal scientists now estimate that 4.9 million barrels (roughly 206 million gallons) of oil leaked from the well after the April 20 explosion. That makes it the world's biggest accidental oil spill into a marine ecosystem and the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. There was also troubling news -- released in a letter and documents by Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey -- that the U.S. Coast Guard allowed BP to apply toxic dispersants dozens of times after a joint directive by the Coast Guard and the EPA said the chemicals should only be used in "rare" circumstances.

The Center for Biological Diversity continues its fight in the Gulf, going after the EPA for allowing dispersants to be used without ensuring the chemicals won't hurt endangered species, including sea turtles, and their habitats. One of our attorneys was also in Boise last week for a federal hearing on where hundreds of cases against BP -- including our $19 billion suit to hold BP responsible for Clean Water Act violations -- will be heard. The oil spill may not be gushing as it once was, but the important work of holding BP and the government accountable and helping heal ecosystems harmed by the oil and toxic dispersants is only just beginning.

Read more on the spill's size and the dispersants misuse in The New York Times. Then check out the latest on our Gulf Disaster webpage.