Leak may (or not) topple BP disaster

A toppled oil platform that has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for 14 years and four months may have released more oil than recent estimates have indicated, possibly pushing the total volume beyond BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. New research from University of South Florida marine scientist Shaojie Sun indicates 2,100 to 71,400 gallons of oil are escaping daily from the Taylor Energy platform site, about 10 miles from of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The 71,400 gallons per day high estimate is more than two times larger than the highest potential rate cited by the Coast Guard when it ordered Taylor to fix the problem in late 2018. At the higher rate, and added up over the past 14.3 years, the Taylor leak could top the 2010 BP disaster by more than 241M gallons and potentially making it one of the largest oil disasters in history. Sun presented the new oil release estimates at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Conference in New Orleans last week. He stressed that his estimated range is extremely wide. While the total Taylor Energy release could soar as high 375M gallons, it may also be as low as 11M. Either way, the Taylor site has been an unchecked and overlooked problem, according to Ian MacDonald, an oil spill expert and oceanographer at Florida State University. (Source: NOLA.com 02/15/19)