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Feds dramatically increase oil spill estimate making BP's the worst accident in history
BP's disastrous oil well explosion sent over 4 million barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard announced Monday, dramatically increasing the most recent federal estimate.
That's more than 170 million gallons, and makes it the worst accidental oil spill in history -- outpacing the 1979 Ixtoc spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico, which lasted for a year.
A federal scientific task force, finally allowed access to the wellhead just prior to it being capped on July 15, took elaborate pressure readings and other measurements to reach its conclusions.
Federal officials now estimate that 53,000 barrels of oil per day were gushing from the well immediately preceding its closure, and that even more was coming out earlier. The well exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.
Scientists now estimate that a total of 4.9 million barrels were released from the well, with about 800,000 barrels of that successfully recaptured by BP once the first containment cap was installed.