Under pressure from the White House and Congress, BP released on Wednesday the first video (See below) of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon Oil rig on April 22nd off the coast of Louisiana.
As BP stumbles to find a way to cap the oil leak, the company said that a smaller box, or “top hat” has been lowered some one mile unto the sea bed and is expected to be moved into position to help plug the leak in the next few days.
See Video of Oil Gushing from Deepwater Horizon Leak
While the Coast Guard and BP estimate that about 5,000 barrels of crude oil a day is being dumped into the Gulf since the explosion, many environmentalists believe that this is a grossly underestimated. They estimate that 25,000 barrels a day are gushing into the Gulf or five time more than what is being said.
Meanwhile in related developments, Florida Governor Charlie Crist sent a letter today to BP America president Lamar McKay requesting $35 million to support the launch of a national and international media advertising campaign aimed at key tourists markets. While there are no signs that oil has reached Florida beaches, tourism officials remain very concerned that the threat of oil could negatively impact visitor arrivals to the state.
Crist is also seriously looking at calling legislators back into a special session to get the required votes to put a drilling ban on the ballet, even though Florida law already prohibits off shore drilling.
