NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Coast Guard says crews may set fires to
burn off oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from a wrecked
offshore drilling platform.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry says the burn would be done
far offshore and could happen as soon as Wednesday.
She says efforts have failed to shut off the flow nearly 5,000
feet below where the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank last
week. Robot subs are still working on it.
The oil would be trapped in special containment booms and set on
fire. A similar burn off the coast of Newfoundland in 1993
eliminated 50 to 99 percent of captured oil.
The oil is now about 20 miles off the coast of Venice, La., the
closest it's been to land. But it's still not expected to reach the
coast before Friday, if at all.

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