Researchers have doubled their estimates of how much oil has actually been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from the ruptured oil well that has been spewing oil since April 20th. They now believe that as much as 40,000 barrels (1.7 million gallons) a day may have been escaping for weeks. According to US Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt, "the lowest estimates that we're seeing, that the scientists think is credible, is probably about 20,000 barrels. And the highest that we're seeing is probably a little over 40,000, maybe a little more." This numbers are up from estimates made two weeks ago that between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels were pouring in the Gulf per day. The new figures suggest that every that an amount equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could be flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every eight to ten days.

According to federal officials it will take until the Fall for the relief wells to be drilled and relieve enough pressure to enable the leaks to be plugged. In addition experts are now saying that the cleanup effort will take years. The Coast Guard had trained for the possibility of cleaning up a disastorous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but it apparently never prepared for a situation where the oil was spread over such a large area and broken up into hundreds of thousands of patches across the gulf. Admiral Thad. Allen, the Obama administration's point man on this effort, said "its the breadth and complexity of the disaggregation of the oil" that is now posing the greatest clean-up challenge. He acknowledged that it might take years to mitigate the spill's impact on coastal marshes, beaches and wildlife of the Gulf Coast.