In Louisiana, Obama vows to mitigate oil disaster

VENICE, La. - No remedy in sight, President Barack Obama warned Sunday of a "massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster" as a badly damaged oil well a mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico spewed a widening and deadly slick toward delicate wetlands and wildlife.

Obama arrived in southern Louisiana to inspect forces arrayed against the oil gusher as cabinet members described the situation as grave and insisted the administration was doing everything it could. Then he took a helicopter ride over the water to view the 30-mile oil slick caused by as much as 210,000 gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf each day.

The spill threatens not only the environment but also the region's abundant fishing industry, which Obama called "the heartbeat of the region's economic life."

As of now, it appeared little could be done in the short term to stem the oil flow, which was also drifting toward the beaches of neighboring Mississippi and farther east along the Florida Panhandle. Obama said the slick was nine miles off the coast of southeastern Louisiana.

BP chairman Lamar McKay raised faint hope that the spill might be stopped more quickly by lowering a hastily manufactured dome to the ruptured wellhead in the next six to eight days, containing the oil and then pumping it to the surface. Such a procedure has never been used at mile-deep waters.

The leaking well was not only an ecological disaster but a potential political hazard, as well. In 2005, President George W. Bush stumbled in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and left the impression of a president distant from immense suffering. His presidency never recovered.

Obama vowed that his administration, while doing all it could to mitigate the disaster, would require well owner BP America to bear all costs. "Your government will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to stop this crisis," he said. "BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill." He stood before cameras in a heavy rain, water dripping from his face.

The president also stopped to talk with six local fishermen and said the challenge is "How do we plug this hole?" After that, he said, protecting the estuaries would be the next priority.

"We're going to do everything in our power to protect our natural resources, compensate those who have been harmed, rebuild what has been damaged and help this region persevere like it has done so many times before," Obama said.

Arriving in New Orleans, the president shunned helicopter travel because of a threat of tornadoes and was driven to Venice to tour a close-to-the-water staging area where the government and BP were trying to keep the slick from causing even more damage.

Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, said the volume of spewing oil could climb to 100,000 barrels a day in the event of a total wellhead failure, a much greater breach than is believed to exist now.