Ominous record as BP becomes largest ever oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

BP’s massive oil spill became the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, based on the highest of the federal government’s estimates, an ominous record that underscores the dire need to halt the gusher.

The oil that’s spewed for two-and-a-half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea hit the 140.6 million gallon mark, eclipsing the record-setting, 140-million-gallon Ixtoc I spill off Mexico’s coast from 1979 to 1980. Even by the lower end of the government’s estimates, at least 71.7 million gallons are in the Gulf.

The growing total is crucial to track, in part because London-based BP plc is likely to be fined per gallon spilled, said Larry McKinney, director of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi’s Gulf of Mexico research institute.