White House “GAGGED NOAA” From Revealing Actual Gulf Oil Disaster Flow Rate

From Florida Spill Law:

Panel: Gov’t blocked worst-case oil spill figures, AP, October 6, 2010:

The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been…

In documents released Wednesday, the national oil spill commission’s staff reveals that in late April or early May the White House budget office denied a request from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make public the worst-case discharge from the blown-out well. …

BP’s drilling permit for the Macondo well originally estimated the worst scenario to be a leak of 6.8 million gallons per day. In late April, the Coast Guard and NOAA received an updated estimate of 2.7 million to 4.6 million gallons per day. …

University of South Florida oceanographer David Hollander, who was also at the St. Petersburg meeting of 150 scientists studying the oil flow on Wednesday, said he was surprised to find that the White House budget office gagged NOAA.