Fears grow for US Gulf Coast as oil slick nears

Hundreds of hotel owners, fishermen and restaurateurs were in fear for their livelihoods yesterday as a giant oil slick from a wrecked rig site oozed towards America's Gulf Coast.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Apr 2010, 23:55 BST
Updated 28th Apr 2010, 23:55 BST

Businesspeople and residents could only watch as the oil slick spread from the drilling rig and forecasters say it could wash ashore within days near delicate wetlands, oyster beds and pristine white beaches.

Crews have been powerless to stop thousands of barrels of oil from spewing from the seabed since an explosion on April 20 destroyed the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon, which was drilling 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

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Eleven workers are missing, presumed dead, and the cause of the explosion has not been determined.

Businessman Louis Skrmetta, 54, runs a company called Ship Island Excursions that takes tourists to the Gulf Islands National Seashore, where white-sand beaches and green water create an idyllic landscape.

"This is the worst possible thing that could happen to the Mississippi Gulf Coast," he said.

"It will wipe out the oyster industry. Shrimping wouldn't recover for years. It would kill family tourism. That's our livelihood."

The sheen of sweet crude continued to grow and began forming long reddish-orange ribbons of oil that, if washed ashore, could cover birds, white sand beaches and marsh grasses.