The lower estimates of the leak so far.

Radio show host Thom Hartmann spoke with John Wathen last week about the Gulf Oil leak.   John Wathen is a photographer, activist, and videographer  from Waterkeeper.org.

What is going on in the Gulf?  On Saturday, BP removed the cap from the gushing oil well in order to get ready for the installation of a new, better cap (so they say).  The old cap will be swapped with a new cap that might even capture all the oil — if we lived in a perfect universe.  According to BP, this one should fit better and things are expected to go well because the weather in the Gulf is finally cooperating.   There is now real hope that they can install this better cap and stop the leak within the next 2-3 weeks.  According to the Washington Post:

For a day or two, the damaged wellhead will gush anew — with the estimated 15,000 barrels of oil a day that had been captured by the old cap now flowing freely. But if all goes well, said BP senior vice president Kent Wells, additional ships and a sturdier cap with a tighter seal will be in place in four to seven days.

“Things going well” is not what has happened so far.  Maybe things are about to change?  Meanwhile, BP continues to spew dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico, causing incredible health risks to every one who lives down there.  More on that below.

John Wathen has been making videos showing the devastation from the oil leak.  His video of whales and dolphins dying was broadcast on cable news channels two weeks ago.  In  his interivew with Hartmann, Wathen stated that the oil leak is a “disaster of epic proportions.”  He said it’s something that you can’t describe in words or video, no matter how dramatic those videos are. He said they flew for several hours and never flew over clean water.

Hartmann complained about the media not covering this topic enough, but I disagree with that.  CNN has been parked in the Gulf for several weeks and so have other media, even mainstream media.  The media has done a decent job reporting this so far, which surprises me, but I could feel their interest waning a bit in the last few days.

Wathen said the oil spill, what we are seeing now, is mild in comparison with what’s coming. He said all that we are really seeing is the light sheen around the outer edges of the main slick.  There are 100 miles of oil still coming out there if they stop it today. They are not going to stop it period, he said. When asked why, he said “This thing has way too much pressure on it.  I don’t think that there is technology available that can actually put a plug in this thing and make it stay.”

When BP filed for the original permit for this oil field, the Macondo, they estimated that the [...]