With oil slick still offshore, a frenzy of preparations
By Maria Recio, Audra Burch, Joseph Goodman and Jim Wyss – McClatchy Newspapers PANAMA CITY, Fla. — As Mother Nature kept the man-made oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico from making landfall, emergency workers along the Gulf Coast Tuesday stepped up their efforts to defend sensitive shorelines and oil giant BP began what could a months-long process to stanch the flow of crude from its runaway well. Thousands of volunteers descended on the region to help avert a looming environmental crisis as meteorologists warned that the calm winds and mild seas that kept the two-week old oil spill relatively intact Tuesday could push the slick toward the Florida Panhandle on Thursday. Officials at the Unified Area Command in Mobile, Ala., said there were unconfirmed reports that the oil sheen may have reached the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast — journalists overflying the area on Monday reported patches of oil visible within the islands. Small patches of what appeared to be rust-colored oil also were spotted in the channel between Cat Island and Ship Island, 11 miles south of Gulfport, Miss. Weather models suggested, however, that the bulk of the slick won’t make landfall before the end of the week, officials said. “Let me phrase it this way,” said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley after flying over the slick Tuesday. “It is a great thing that we have a few more days to make sure we get all of the booms and barricades in place.” In Washington, Pentagon officials authorized the use of National Guard troops to assist. As many as 6,000 in Louisiana can be mobilized; 3,000 in Alabama; 2,500 in Florida and 6,000 in Mississippi. Meanwhile, British Petroleum kept working 5,000 feet beneath the sea to stop the well’s hemorrhage of an estimated 210,000 gallons a day. …
