Master P Calls BP Oil Spill ‘Community Tragedy’

Former New Orleans gangsta rapper-turned-activist Percy "Master P" Miller has issued a statement regarding the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The April 20 explosion of an offshore oil rig owned by the British energy company has already killed 11 and deposited millions of gallons of oil into the ocean, in what has been labeled "the worst man-made disaster ever recorded."

"It's definitely something that's another tragedy for our community," Master P said. "[You] have to realize we have to prepare for this but, you never know when something like the oil spill will happen."One expert estimates the flow of oil into the ocean to be somewhere between 56,000 and 84,000 barrels per day, equivalent to one Exxon Valdez spill every 2 or 3 days. There is also another smaller leak that is said to be delivering another 25,000 barrels each day.

Master P claims that the effects of the spill are already apparent on his native Louisiana's coastline. "It's out of control and it's killing the animals and the business people that do fishing in that area," Master P lamented. "People don't realize how this is going to effect the entire country."

Though the United States government places responsibility for the spill on BP, and is expected to file criminal charges, BP blames their partners Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton for the explosion and subsequent leak.

The leak is expected to continue at least through August, and could spread as far as Alabama and Mississippi, once hurricane season begins, later this week.

The state of Louisiana is asking for at least $1 billion in damages from BP.