Gulf of Mexico Highly Contaminated By Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20 and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on April 22. New best total estimates of the spill range from 12 milion to 27 milion gallons of oil. This estimate is based on 12,000 to 25,000 barrels a day spilling into the Gulf for over a month. by comparison, the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill put 11 million gallons of oil along more than 1,000 miles of Alaska's coastline.