Oil Reaches Louisiana Wetlands

Oil reaches wetlands, spill larger than expected

As oil slimes La. coast, BP says spill larger than it estimated

By Kevin McGill
Associated Press
Posted: Friday, May. 21, 2010

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  An oil slick fouls the Roseau Grasses, which mark the Louisiana coastline at Pass a Loutre at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other officials toured the area by boat on Wednesday. TED JACKSON - TIMES-PICAYUNE/AP
  
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  A white bird flies over oil-polluted wetlands at Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La., on Thursday as the spill begins washing ashore. PATRICK SEMANSKY - AP
  
  
  The Environmental Protection Agency directed BP on Thursday to use a less toxic form of chemical dispersants to break up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one of several steps the government took to crack down on the oil giant.
  
  

GRAND ISLE, La. The spectacle many had feared for a month unfolded Thursday as gooey, rust-colored oil washed into the marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi, stoking public anger and frustration with both BP and the federal government.

The sense of gloom deepened as BP conceded what some scientists have been saying for weeks: that the oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is bigger than the company previously estimated.

Until now, only tar balls and a sheen of oil had come ashore. But on Wednesday, chocolate brown and vivid orange globs, sheets and ribbons of foul-smelling oil the consistency of latex paint began coating the reeds and grasses of Louisiana's wetlands, home to rare birds, mammals and a rich variety of marine life.

There were no immediate reports of any mass die-offs of wildlife or large numbers of creatures wriggling in oil, as seen after the Exxon Valdez disaster, but that was the fear.

Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, toured the oil-fouled marshes and said: "Had you fallen off that boat yesterday and come up breathing that stuff, you probably wouldn't be here."

A live video feed of the underwater gusher, posted online Thursday after lawmakers exerted pressure on BP, is sure to fuel the anger.

It shows what appears to be a large plume of oil and gas still spewing into the water next to the stopper-and-tube combination that BP inserted to carry some of the crude to the surface. The House committee website where the video was posted promptly crashed because so many people were trying to view it.

"These videos stand as a scalding, blistering indictment of BP's inattention to the scope and size of the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of the United States," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

At least 6 million gallons have gushed into the Gulf - more than half the amount the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled in Alaska in 1989 - since the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded 50 miles off the coast April 20. Eleven workers were killed.

The slow-motion disaster could spread. Government scientists said a small portion of the slick had entered the loop current, a stream of fast-moving water that could carry the mess into the Florida Keys and up the Atlantic Coast, damaging coral reefs and fouling beaches.

BP spokesman Mark Proegler told The Associated Press that the milelong tube inserted into the leaking well pipe over the weekend is capturing 210,000 gallons of oil a day - the total amount the company and the Coast Guard had estimated was gushing into the sea - but that some is still escaping. He would not say how much.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said an interagency team using ships and planes is working on a new estimate of how much oil is gushing from the well. Agency officials would not speculate on how big the leak might be.

Washington, meanwhile, turned up the pressure on BP.
The Obama administration asked the company to be more open by sharing such information as measurements of the leak and the trajectory of the spill. BP has been accused of covering up the magnitude of the disaster.

BP is marshaling equipment for an attempt as early as Sunday at a "top kill" - pumping heavy mud into the top of the blown-out well to try to plug the gusher. A top kill has been used before above ground, but like other methods BP is exploring, it has never been attempted 5,000 feet underwater.

If it doesn't work, the backup plans include a "junk shot" - shooting golf balls, shredded tires, knotted rope and other material into the well to clog it up.