BP Oil Spill - Current Situation OVERVIEW

GULF OF MEXICO - APRIL 21: In this image provided be the U.S. Coast Guard, fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.

On April 21, the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded into flames in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles offshore. The Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters responded in an effort to save the 126 crew members. To date 11 remain missing and presumed dead. The rig burned and sank. Fire/explosion of as yet unknown origin caused the collapse of the drilling rig, breaking the piping that connected the drill to the well, 5000 ft below sea level.

That was just the start of what is unfolding to be an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions. The drilling rig fail safe system failed to cap the well and it is leaking oil into the gulf in estimates of 5,000 to 20,000 gallons a day. They have been trying to tap the well to close it and current estimates say that could take 60-90 days to do, meanwhile the oil will continue to spill into the gulf until then.

The leaking drill site is located 5,000 feet below the surface so only unmanned equipment can be used. To put the situation in perspective here are some facts for the Dept. of the Interior about the extent of drilling in the gulf.

• 1.7 million barrels of oil are produced in the gulf every day
• 30% of total domestic oil production comes from the gulf
• There are approximately 90 drilling rigs operating in the gulf
• There are 3,500 production platforms, which pump oil and gas by pipeline to the shore Nearly 1,000 are manned
• 35,000 workers are engaged in the gulf's offshore and gas exploration and production

The worst US oil disaster to date the Exxon Valdez in Alaska Just after midnight on 24 March 1989 the single-hulled oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Blight Reef in Prince William Sound. Over the next few days 11 million gallons (270,000 barrels) of North Slope crude oil spilled into the sensitive subpolar ecosystem of the Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.

There are 42 gallons in each barrel of oil.

Current estimates of the oil spill are in excess of 200,000 gallons or 5,000 barrels a day are flowing into the gulf unabated. So everyone is mobilizing to help deal with this impending disaster. That is why the Wildlife Foundation of Florida is asking for your support for our designated fund to help deal with the impeding efforts to help control the oil spill and help save our Florida's coasts and ecosystem. We have a huge job ahead of us and the trained professionals and volunteers will need your support.