Underwater Survey Finds Volume of Oil Unprecedented 'in Human History'
Oil Flowing From the Deepwater Horizon Well There's been a lot of rather vague back and forth regarding the magnitude of the Gulf oil leak -- it's worse than the Exxon Valdez, but not as bad as 1979's Ixtoc I leak, but worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates, etc. etc. Now researchers have qualified the spill in terms that don't leave a lot of room for semantic quibbling, confirming the existence of huge concentrations of oil spreading for miles beneath the surface of the Gulf - the "plumes" previously denied by BP and federal officials - and calling the disaster unprecedented in "human history." Moreover, for the first time federal officials are backing up that assertion. "It's an infusion of oil and gas unlike anything else that has ever been seen anywhere, certainly in human history." So says the leader of a group or researchers aboard the F.G. Walton Smith, who...