Oil Spill Spreads Fears Along US Gulf Coast
30 April 2010
A photo from last week showing the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico.
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Five years ago this August, Hurricane Katrina struck. Now, American states along the Gulf of Mexico are fearing a different kind of environmental disaster. Oil is flowing from a damaged well one thousand five hundred meters under the sea.
JANET NAPOLITANO: "This is a spill of national significance."
That was Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, announcing a higher level of government action. President Obama on Thursday ordered federal officials to intensify efforts to deal with the huge spill.
The Horizon Deepwater [correction: Deepwater Horizon] oil drilling rig exploded and sank last week. Eleven workers are missing. British Petroleum leased the rig, owned by Switzerland-based Transocean.
The president said again Friday that BP is "ultimately responsible" under the law for paying the costs of response and cleanup operations.
BARACK OBAMA: "But we are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities."
He said he has ordered a report in thirty days on what, if any, additional safety measures and technologies should be required to prevent future spills.
Oil reached the coastline late Thursday near the mouth of the Mississippi River in the southern state of Louisiana. The oil could also affect parts of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas.
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