Reply #37: I'm not a scientist but 250,000 gallons of water is smaller than you might think.

[breadandwine]

If I arranged 100 gallon jugs of water in a row and then made 100 such rows side by side, and then made shelving and stacked an equal area of jugs (100 on a side of a square) 100 layers high, that's 100 times 100 times 100 gallon jugs. That equals one millions gallons right there yet it takes up a very small space. You could do that in somebody's back yard if you had shelving of a few stories high.

Now, if only a quart of oil contaminates a quarter of that much water, then that's pretty serious given the tremendous gusher going on in the Gulf right now.

Basically, imagine a swimming pool the size of the above volume, not much bigger than a small building. Now, take a quart of gross, unrefined crude oil with a witch's brew of toxic components broiling for thousands of years at 35,000 feet below sea level. Take that quart of super-yuck and dump it --- SPLAT --- in the swimming pool. Now put on your swim suit and jump right in. Don't be shy! Oil industry experts will tell you the water's fine!!!!! So come on in!!!!!!!!!! Does that appeal to you? Just asking. Now imagine STAYING in the pool for as long as the lifespan of one of the longer lived ocean creatures, like an octopus or dolphin or whale. Still sound like fun? I. DON'T. THINK. SO.