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The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species - and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf.

NPR's Richard Harris has learned that much more oil, 70,000 barrels a day or more than ten times the official estimate, is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon pipe, based on scientific analysis of the video released Wednesday.

House Panel Examines Gulf Coast Oil Spill

The experimental containment dome was successfully positioned over the leaking riser pipe last night, but then had to be removed after a large volume of ice-like methane hydrate crystals accumulated inside of the structure. These crystal hydrates blocked the flow of oil and threatened to lift the dome off the sea floor.