Washington: US President Barak Obama will
visit an oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico in next 48 hours
to assess the situation and the US government`s response, a
White House official said on Saturday.
Oil from a giant Gulf of Mexico slick began washing
onto Louisiana shores yesterday, threatening an environmental
calamity, as two more neighboring states declared a state of
emergency.
With up to 200,000 gallons of oil a day spewing into
the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured well, the accident stemming
from a sunken offshore rig may soon rival the Exxon Valdez
disaster as the worst oil spill in US history.
The Mobile Press-Register reported today that the US
Coast Guard now feared the underwater oil well spewing crude
into the Gulf of Mexico could become an unchecked gusher
shooting millions of gallons of oil per day.
Citing a confidential National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration report, the Alabama newspaper said two
additional release points had been found.
"If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow
could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order
of magnitude higher than previously thought," the paper quotes
the report as saying.
Earlier, Obama said some 1,900 federal response
personnel were in the area with 300 boats and aircraft.
The White House also put new domestic offshore oil
drilling on hold until the disaster has been fully
investigated and sent teams to the Gulf Coast "to inspect all
deep water rigs and platforms to address safety concerns."
PTI
