US president Barack Obama will visit the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow after a ruptured deepwater well spilled millions of gallons of oil into the water.
The unchecked spill has reached the coast of Louisiana, threatening fish and shrimp breeding grounds and vulnerable wetlands teeming with wildlife. It could become one of the worst environmental disasters in US history.
Mr Obama sent Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to Louisiana yesterday to assess the situation. Mr Salazar met with BP executives and said he told them to "work harder and faster and smarter to get the job done."
"We cannot rest and we will not rest until BP permanently seals the wellhead and cleans up every drop of oil," he said.
Crude oil is pouring out at a rate of up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons or 955,000 litres) a day, according to government estimates, but experts said the quantity of crude escaping was difficult to measure. Forecasters predict the spill will soon invade the coastlines of Mississippi as well as Alabama and Florida, which both declared states of emergency.
More offshore oil and natural gas production platforms could be shut down in the Gulf of Mexico as a precaution due to the oil spill, a spokeswoman for the US Minerals Management Service said
Mr Obama last night pledged to "use every single available resource" and the US military was mobilising to help contain the spreading spill from the deepwater leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the rig exploded 11 days ago.
The rising threat has deepened fears of severe damage to fisheries, wildlife refuges and tourism in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, whose state is still recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, warned the slick "threatens the state's natural resources." He declared a state of emergency and asked the department of defence for funds to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops to help with the expected clean-up.
The spreading oil is about 5km from a fragile wildlife preserve in marshland at the edge of the Mississippi Delta, which experts said would seriously damage the ecology of the area and could be very difficult to clean up.
Homeland security secretary Janet Neopolitano declared it "a spill of national significance," meaning that federal resources from other regions could be used to fight it.
Mr Obama said the London-based energy giant BP Plc was ultimately responsible for the cost of the clean-up, which has hit BP's share price and those of other companies involved in the project.
BP and the US coast guard have mounted what the company called the largest oil spill containment operation in history, involving dozens of ships and aircraft.
BP admitted struggling to control the spill, which is 1,525 metres under the sea off Louisiana's coast, and appealed for help. It has asked the Pentagon for access to military imaging technology and remotely operated vehicles to try to help it plug the ruptured well.
Reuters