Timeline of Spill Estimates from SkyTruth

Here's the timeline of spill estimates [from the SkyTruth Blog]:

[SkyTruth suggests that underestimating the spill will preclude the future development of adequate remediation resources. ]

• 4/22 - Deepwater Horizon rig sinks; Coast Guard estimates "up to" 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) is leaking - source
• 4/23 - Coast Guard reports no leaking at all from the damaged well - source
• 4/24 - Coast Guard reports well is leaking, estimates 1,000 bpd - source
• 4/25 - BP repeats 1,000 bpd estimate - source
• 4/27 - 1,000 bpd still the official Coast Guard and BP estimate - source
• 4/27 - SkyTruth and Dr. Ian MacDonald publish first estimate that spill rate is 20,000 bpd - source
• 4/28 - NOAA weighs in and raises the official estimate to 5,000 bpd based on aerial surveys "and other factors"; BP disputes this higher estimate - source
• 4/29 - Coast Guard and NOAA repeat their estimate of 5,000 bpd - source
• 4/29 - BP's Chief Operating Officer admits new estimate of 5,000 bpd may be correct; "He said there was no way to measure the flow at the seabed and estimates have to come from how much oil makes it to the surface" - source
• 5/1 - SkyTruth and Dr. Ian MacDonald publish revised estimate of at least 26,500 bpd - source
• 5/1 - Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen "acknowledged there was no way really to know the extent of the leak" - source - and stated that "Any exact estimate is probably impossible at this time" - source
• 5/1 - Coast Guard and NOAA cease estimating the rate of the spill.