A leading scientist on the government-appointed oil spill team is warning that the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico has increased significantly over the past week. Ira Leifer, who serves on the Flow Rate Technical Group, says the well may now be leaking 100,000 barrels, far higher than the official government estimate of between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels a day. Leifer said the flow rate increased when BP decided to sever the well’s damaged riser pipe to install its new collection device known as the containment cap. Leifer told the McClatchy Newspapers that once the riser pipe was cleared, there was little blocking the oil’s rise to the top of the blowout preventer. BP is now able to siphon some of the oil to a ship, but Leifer said the actual amount leaking into the Gulf has increased.