Hurricane Oil Spills in Louisiana Have Been Cleaned
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) states that ninety-five percent of the oil spilled in Louisiana during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been cleaned.
The magnitude of the 595 spills that were spread across 4 states rank these 2 hurricanes among the worst ever environmental disasters in U.S. history.
However, FEMA says that ninety-five percent of all oil spilled has already been removed, evaporated, or dissipated. The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered nearly 3.9 million gallons of oil. Another 4 million gallons have either evaporated or dissipated naturally, and about 400,000 gallons still remain, but is expected to be removed.
With an estimated total of 9 million gallons of oil spilled in Louisiana, the disaster approaches the degree of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, which spilt a total of 11 million gallons.
