John,

To clarify the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico, the amount that has
washed ashore is exceedingly less than the amount from the Exxon Valdez. The
difference is that 1) winds have been favorable thus far and, 2) when a
tanker is damaged, the amount of oil is limited. The accident in the Gulf
was a pipeline failure and with the line remaining uncapped the amount of
oil likely to wash ashore in the coming months is inestimable. The
communities along the Gulf shores are smelling the oil, looking at the
booms, and waiting with much anxiety.

Rondina
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Rondina P. Muncy
Ancestral Analysis
2960 Trail Lake Drive
Grapevine, Texas 76051
817.481.5902
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www.ancestralanalysis.com


On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 8:27 AM, John Smith at dhova <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I certainly do not want to minimize the disaster in the gulf, with all the
> oil washing ashore.  But I would like to get a better understanding of just
> how much it is.  e.g. the other night, I understood the announcer to say it
> was much less than the Exon Valdez.
>
> But more to the Virginia point,  I recall as a little tyke living at
> Virginia Beach during WWII, and having a tremendous amount of oil wash
> ashore from tankers sunk offshore by German U-Boats.  It was thick and
> coated everything.  Seagulls and other marine birds really took a hit.  Is
> there any tabulation of how much oil was in tankers sunk just off the VA and
> NC shore between Jan and June 1942?  How much reached shores? And how it was
> cleaned up?
>
> Randy Cabell
>
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