Venice (US): Louisiana Governor Bobby
Jindal on Thursday declared a state of emergency due to the massive
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens the state`s
fragile coast.
The declaration issued by the governor`s office in the
capital city of Baton Rouge empowers officials here to deploy
state resources and seek federal assistance for the "predicted
impact of oil along the Louisiana coast."
Jindal noted that US weather officials predict that the
oil slick is likely to reach parts of the Louisiana coastline
Thursday.
"At this time, the Pass a L`Outre Wildlife Management
Area is expected to see the first impact of the oil spill,"
said Jindal`s emergency declaration, which lasts for one
month, through May 29.
The governor`s pronouncement listed at least 10 wildlife
refuges in Louisiana and Mississippi that are in the direct
path of the oil plume and that are likely to be impacted,
adding that "billions of dollars in ongoing coastal
restoration projects may be at risk because of this
emergency."
Obama orders `all available resources` in oil spill
The US government today
designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a disaster of
"national significance" and President Barack Obama offered all
available resources possibly including military assets for the
clean-up.
"We will use all available resources, possibly including
those at the Department of Defence," White House spokesman
Robert Gibbs told reporters in an update briefing on the
unfolding environmental catastrophe.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano meanwhile
said that the decision to designate the slick a disaster of
"national significance" would allow clean-up equipment and
resources from across the United States to be used.
Rear Admiral Sally Brice O`Hara of the US Coast Guard
said at the special briefing that the first oil from the
massive slick was expected to make landfall some time "later
tomorrow (Friday)."
PTI
