Rough seas from hurricane push more oil onto Gulf coast beaches

Rough seas generated by Hurricane Alex pushed more oil from the massive spill on to US Gulf coast beaches yesterday as clean-up vessels were sidelined by the storm.

The hurricane was churning coastal waters across the oil-affected

region on the Gulf of Mexico, as waves as high as six feet and winds of more than 25mph were forecast just offshore from the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana to north-western Florida.

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In Louisiana, the storm pushed an oil patch towards Grand Isle and uninhabited Elmer's Island, dumping tar balls as big as apples on the beach.

"The sad thing is that it's been about three weeks since we had any big oil come in here," marine science technician Michael Malone said. "With this weather, we lost all the progress we made."

The loss of skimmers, combined with gusts driving water into the coast, left beaches especially vulnerable. In Alabama, the normally white sand was streaked with long lines of oil, while one area of beach 40ft wide was stained brown and mottled with globs of oil matted together.

Dozens of vessels that were being used to combat the oil spill were tied to docks on Tuesday as Hurricane Alex, more than 500 miles away, approached the Texas-Mexico coast, and they are expected to remain out of action for several days.

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The nasty weather is forecast to linger in the Gulf through today, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian LaMarre said.

n A strong earthquake rattled southern Mexico yesterday, sending people fleeing into the streets in Pacific coast towns and in the nation's capital.

The US Geological Survey said the 6.2-magnitude quake was centred in a sparsely populated, mountainous area of Oaxaca near the southern

Pacific coast.

The quake swayed buildings in the capital Mexico City, 220 miles north-east of the epicentre, and residents fled into the streets and parks. City officials reported no significant damage.

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