(This was an old post of ecogeneration.org, posted on 05/2010)

The one-month anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico BP oil-spill catastrophe has passed -- and the oil is still gushing, with no end in sight as each fix, untested in deep water, continues to fail. Attempting to break up the oil, BP has released about 655,000 gallons of toxic chemical dispersants, some banned in the UK, into the Gulf.

Experts now estimate that the spill has already disgorged about 30 million gallons of oil into the Gulf -- nearly three times the amount spilled during the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska, though BP continues to refuse to help scientists determine exactly how much oil is really spilling each day.

Twelve dead bottlenose dolphins, 24 dead oiled birds, and 156 dead Kemp's ridley sea turtles -- more than three times the usual number of sea turtles found dead during spring nesting season -- have washed up on the coastline. Twelve oiled birds have been rescued and are still alive.

Yet as the Gulf disaster grows, the Interior Department has blithely continued to approve more Gulf drilling without environmental review.

It is outrageous and unacceptable that Salazar(Interior Secretary of Big Oil)  is still illegally exempting dangerous offshore drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico from all environmental review as tens of millions of gallons of oil gush into the ocean."

source: The Washington Post