Gulf Oil Spill Could Eclipse Exxon Valdez Disaster

by NPR Staff and Wires
April 30, 2010

An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control and drifted inexorably toward the Gulf Coast as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.

The spill was both bigger and closer than imagined — five times larger than first estimated, with the leading edge just three miles from the Louisiana shore.

"It is of grave concern," David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press.

"I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling." the rest image-NASA

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