Recently, a foreign cargo ship ran into the San Francisco Bay Bridge and leaked oil into the bay. Initial reports were that approximately 140 gallons of fuel had leaked into the bay. Now reports are saying approximately 58 000 gallons leaked into the bay. This sounds suspiciously like a conversion error from metric tons to gallons. Depending on the type of fuel used, this number is in the ballpark.
(I based my calculations off of the calculator at http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/science/energy_calculator.html ) If so - the initial assessment of what type of resources would be need for a cleanup operation would have been WAY OFF. Here we have YET ANOTHER example of why we need to have a single system of measures so that communications in emergencies is unambiguous.
