REUTERS/Sean Gardner
Wonder how that whole oil-spill cleanup thing is going? Turns out, not well.
Officials can blame the weather – Hurricane Alex caused choppy waves and disrupted boats – but regardless, only three gallons of oil were collected on the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida combined on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, oil is still gushing out of BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico, causing massive environmental damage. (See evidence in our photo gallery.) Oil has now reached Louisiana’s Lake Ponchatrain, located north of New Orleans, which is home to some of the state’s best fishing and recreation.
Aside from Tuesday’s setback, skimmers have collected a total of 23.5 million gallons of oily water thus far. But as long as the well is still leaking, the recovery effort has a long way to go.