Louisiana bracing for BP oil spill coastal touchdown

With over 210,000 gallons (roughly 5,000 barrels a day) of crude oil pouring out of the sunken BP offshore oil rig, Louisiana is bracing itself for an imminent disaster to its coastline.

In an interview on NPR radio, New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter Bob Marshall explains how the local Louisiana fishery will be completely devastated, as will one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the United States:

"Many of the fisherman and people I talk to said that this is worse than Katrina. They know how to recover from hurricanes, that's a natural event that occurs every now and then. But how do you recover from something that doesn't have an end?"

And,

"This is more than just people fishing. This habitat is really at the tip of the pyramid of the whole culture down here. the restaurants in new Orleans, the people who come here and eat food, which is based largely on local seafood."

The lead US agency for monitoring the progression of the oil spill is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their latest oil spill trajectory maps (pdf) show that as of yesterday strong winds continue to bring oil towards the shoreline: "Oil was seen on both overflights yesterday 2-10 nm (nautical miles) offshore and to the south of the Mississippi Delta..."

US President traveled to Venice, Louisiana over the weekend to survey the damage and reiterate the commitment his administration has made to minimizing the damage and holding those responsible to account. The President has also ordered that no new offshore oil drilling leases will be approved until new safeguards are put in place that will prevent a similar disaster from occurring in the future.

The National Guard has now been activated in Louisiana and Alabama to support the oil spill response effort: