Obama sends top officials as oil drifts towards US coast

A MASSIVE oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has become far worse than initially thought crept toward the coast yesterday as US government officials offered help from the military to prevent a disaster that could destroy fragile marshlands along the shore.

An executive for BP, which operated the oil rig that exploded and sank last week, said on NBC’s Today that the company would welcome help from the US military.

“We’ll take help from anyone,” said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP Exploration and Production.

The Coast Guard has urged the company to formally request more resources from the Defence Department.

And President Barack Obama dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson to help with the spill.

But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 20km of the coast, and it could reach shore soon.

A third leak was discovered, which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated – about 5,000 barrels a day coming from the blown-out well 65km offshore.