Define "some"

BP: Oil spill worse than first estimated

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP conceded Thursday that more oil than it
estimated is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico as heavy crude washed
into Louisiana's wetlands for the first time, feeding worries and
uncertainty about the massive monthlong spill.

Mark Proegler, a spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, said a
mile-long tube inserted into a leaking pipe over the weekend is
capturing 210,000 gallons a day - the total amount the company and the Coast Guard have estimated is gushing into the sea - but some is still escaping. He would not say how much.

You see a few days ago, BP told us they were sucking 40 percent of the total flow through their crazy straw. At that time their estimated total was 210,000 gallons a day. My phone calculator says BP was claiming to suck 84,000 gallons per day but BP uses more sophisticated instruments than I do so I'm glad I waited a few days for them to tell me that they're actually sucking the full 210,000.

But now there's "some" left over. Anybody want to guess how much "some" there is?

Proegler said the 210,000 gallons - 5,000 barrels - has always been just an estimate because there is no way to measure how much is spilling from the seafloor.

There's no way to know how much. But we were getting 40 percent of it. But we were really getting more than that. But that's not all of it. And there's no way to know how much more. But it's some.

Whatever. I guess it really is BP's ocean. They broke it, they bought it, right?

Speaking of which, I'm pleased to see that EPA is stepping in (after a month) to demand that BP use a safer dispersant than the toxic Corexit they've been force-funneling into the Gulf as though it were a fraternity pledge on alcohol poisoning initiation night. Dambala astutely assumes that this probably means Nalco is pretty much out of the stuff anyway.

Lot of good it did too.

Oil is lapping on the Louisiana coast from Port Fourchon to Grand Isle, a Jefferson Parish official said.

Oil has also washed up on Elmer's Island off lower Jefferson Parish, a wildlife refuge and popular spot for bird-watching and beach camping, a Jefferson Parish official said.

Anybody got any more toxic waste you're trying to get rid of? Now would be the time to dump it into the Gulf. It won't clean up the oil either but at least you won't be ruining anything pristine.