Oil Spill Disasters

E-mails show struggle to guess size of Gulf spill

Forbes |

In Brief...

The Obama administration struggled behind the scenes to determine how much oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico from a BP well this year and defended estimates that for months were inaccurate, according to thousands of government e-mails.. A senior scientist who led the federal effort, Bill Lehr of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noted that the administration went public with a summary of estimates before experts could finish their work.. "A pie chart pretty much has to round to 100," NOAA spokeswoman Jennifer Austin wrote.. Lehr's top boss at NOAA, Jane Lubchenco, cautioned a colleague about how to present the government's findings. Anticipating a question in August for an upcoming news conference, a NOAA spokeswoman asked scientists, "What impact, if any, will this report have in determining BP ( BP - news - people )'s financial liability for this spill? The U.S. can fine BP up to $4,300 per barrel of oil that is counted as leaked.. The documents released Wednesday by the Commerce Department, NOAA's parent agency, were significant because they revealed conversations among scientists working on the forecasts of oil in the Gulf. Lehr subsequently told colleagues that none of the terrible places where he studied past oil spills - freezing cold in Alaska, stifling heat in Louisiana or dodging missiles in Arabia - had prepared him for his unpleasant experience in Washington testifying to Congress..

Read the entire article at Forbes...

Related Topics