AP:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP conceded Thursday that more oil than it estimated is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico as heavy crude washed into Louisiana's wetlands for the first time, feeding worries and uncertainty about the massive monthlong spill.
Mark Proegler, a spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, said a mile-long tube inserted into a leaking pipe over the weekend is capturing 210,000 gallons a day - the total amount the company and the Coast Guard have estimated is gushing into the sea - but some is still escaping. He would not say how much.
So what might be motivating BP to concede their claim of 5,000 barrels per day was wrong? Perhaps the fact that they have finally posted a live feed of the oil gushing from the main leak.
In my experience watching the feed, it's had some technical hiccups, but I was able to watch about five minutes before the video screen went black. It's incredibly disturbing -- clouds of oil billowing from the site of the leak, at times appearing far, far worse than the initial video BP released.
The fact that BP now claims to be siphoning off 5,000 barrels per day but the flow of oil appears to be as bad as ever tells you just how massive this leak is. CBS was the first news organization to get its hands on the live feed and showed it to Purdue Professor of Mechanical Engineering Steven Werely. He estimates that nearly 100,000 barrels -- 4 million gallons or an Exxon Valdez every three days -- is still spewing from the leak.
Here's the CBS report, including some footage from the leak:
As disturbing as it is to see the live video of oil flooding the gulf, it's very important that BP has been forced to make this feed available. Kudos to Rep. Markey and Senators Boxer and Nelson (of Florida) for making it happen. They're also going to need to keep pressure on BP to iron out the technical problems with the feed -- after getting it to play for about five minutes, I've been unable to watch the feed since.