And to also note, I was watching tv, and BREAKING NEWS comes on, in HD...I'm so sick and tired of these huge mistakes the oill company's are making, just as bad as the banking company's bonus to the CEOs...I just think they need to fix this lleak now, and lleave our waters alone! We only got one earth and we are destroying it!

I'm not big on conspiracies but I do find it a little odd that just before the summer/peak travel season something happens to effect gas prices every year. oh and the fact that nobody put a kill switch on the oil pump.

P.S. is any of this floating sludge still refinable? seems to me someone could make a killing if it is.

P.S. is any of this floating sludge still refinable? seems to me someone could make a killing if it is.

It's a terrible accident that occurred mainly due to 2 circumstances: Drilling that far off the continental shelf, in water over 5000 feet deep, had not been done before; and there were a series of safety failures that, if each had happened individually would have been manageable, but in concurrence overwhelmed the failsafes.

As far as the amount of oil released, the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates the release to be between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels a day. That all adds up to anywhere between 19 million and 30 million gallons of oil. Either is worse than the Valdez, but not even in the top dozen of oil spills, in terms of volume.

Clean-up for the Valdez was far more difficult than this will be, because of that spill's nearness to land, the terrain, and the remote location was an immense challenge. Most of this oil will be "cleaned" while still floating in the Gulf of Mexico. The issue with this spill won't be cleanup as much as the long-term effect on Louisiana's wetlands and barrier islands, which house all forms of wildlife and serve as protection from the storm surge of a hurricane.

This is all major news right now - what won't be major news is how, in 10 years, the shrimp catches still haven't caught up to pre-spill numbers, Louisiana losing umpteen square miles of coast due to advanced erosion, and Louisiana's economy in the dumps because of the massive loss of tourist sportsmen.

The possibilities of how bad this is are major news. How bad this will really be for people who live here won't even be mentioned in 5 to 10 years. By that time, the vultures will all be feeding on some other major superhuge big thing.

And all of the losses have to be documented for a repayment by BP. The fisherman have lost nothing money wise. They get a big fat check from BP. Consumers will pay as shrimp prices increase...or it will mean we buy more of those nice little tiger shrimp from China.

The fisherman have lost something,their livelihood.Big fat check wont bring back your "Way of life".
Only fisherman with boats registered in the coastal parishes will be getting paid.
Everyone else are screwed.Including all the deckhands,seafood factory workers,people who own fishing camps,whose property values will plummit,recreational fisherman who wont be able to take their kids fishing,ect.Nothing.

And yes,since Louisiana provides 40% of the seafood for the entire United States,consumers WILL pay.