Oil leak ‘worse than expected’

An executive for BP PLC, which operated the oil rig that exploded and sank last week, said on the NBC television Thursday morning that the company would welcome help from the US military.
“We’ll take help from anyone,” BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said.
The Coast Guard has urged the company to formally request more resources from the Department of Defense.
But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the coast, which it could coat as soon as Saturday. A third leak was discovered, which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels a day coming from the blown-out well 40 miles (65 kilometers) offshore.
Suttles had initially disputed the government’s estimate, or that the company was unable to handle the operation to contain it. But early Thursday, he acknowledged on NBC that the leak may be as bad as the government says. He said there was no way to measure the flow at the seabed and estimates have to come from how much oil makes it to the surface.
If the well cannot be closed, almost 100,000 barrels of oil, or 4.2 million gallons (15.9 million liters), could spill into the Gulf before crews can drill a relief well to alleviate the pressure.
By comparison, the Exxon Valdez, the worst oil spill in US history, leaked 11 million gallons (42 million liters) into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989.
The spill has moved steadily toward the mouth of the Mississippi River and the wetland areas east of it, home to hundreds of species of wildlife and near some rich oyster grounds.
The rig Deepwater Horizon sank a week ago after exploding two days earlier. Of its crew of 126, 11 are missing and presumed dead.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said BP is responsible for bringing resources to shut off the flow and clean up the spill.
“It has become clear after several unsuccessful attempts to determine the cause” that agencies must supplement what’s being done by the company, she said.
A fleet of boats working under an oil industry consortium has been using boom to corral and then skim oil from the surface.
Landry said a controlled test to burn the leaking oil was successful late Wednesday afternoon. BP was to set more fires after the test, but as night fell, there were no more burns. No details have been given about when more were planned were given during the news conference.
President Barack Obama has directed officials to aggressively confront the spill, but the cost of the cleanup will fall on BP, spokesman Nick Shapiro said.