What’s in a blowout’s name?
Business & Economy, Crime & Safety, Politics, Recovery
June 17th, 2010
The May 1980 issue of Popular Mechanics discusses what at that time was the world’s worst oil spill – the Ixtoc I blowout, which gushed an estimated 140 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico for 10 months. Towards the end of the article we learn that “Ixtoc”, is the Mayan term for “blowout,” or “damn blowout.” I’m not kidding!
Recently, government officials upwardly revised estimates of the Macondo oil gusher for the fourth time. Despite recent forecasts to the contrary, and BP’s attempts to capture ever greater portions of the released oil, the open wound created…
COMMENTS