VENICE, La. (AP) - President Barack Obama heads south Sunday to get a first-hand look and the latest information on the oil slick from a blown out Gulf of Mexico well.
Officials now worry not only about the impact on Gulf Coast states, but what might happen if the growing oil slick gets caught up in the Gulf Stream and heads into the Atlantic and up the East
Coast.
Obama's visit comes amid growing criticism that the government and oil company BP PLC should have done more to stave off the disaster.
The Coast Guard concedes that it's nearly impossible to know how much oil has gushed since the April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers.
The oil slick threatens beaches, fragile marshes, birds and marine mammals, along with fishing grounds that are among the world's most productive.
The spill should eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident in a matter of weeks.
Meantime, Louisiana's governor says he still has not received detailed plans from oil giant BP PLC and the Coast Guard on protecting the state's coast from a massive oil spill.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said Saturday that he's been asking for the plans for more than a week. The governor says the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico, which is spewing from a sunken oil rig, "literally threatens our way of life" in the state.
Jindal plans to travel with President Barack Obama when the president visits Louisiana on Sunday.
Jindal says 600 National Guard soldiers currently are on duty to help contain the spill. Another 1,000 are on standby.
The Republican also says the state expects BP to cover all expenses related to the spill cleanup.
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