Obama puts pressure on BP to clean up oil spill

VENICE, La. - The U.S. government scrambled Friday to ward off an environmental disaster that could cost billions of dollars as a huge oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling shrimp fishing grounds, oyster beds and fragile wetlands with a rich variety of wildlife.

With oil gushing unchecked from a ruptured deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, the Obama administration heaped pressure on London-based energy giant BP, the well's majority owner, to do more to shut off the flow and contain the spreading slick.

President Barack Obama, mindful of criticism of President George W. Bush's handling of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, sent several top officials to Louisiana to assess preparations for the cleanup effort. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he had told BP to "work harder and faster and smarter to get the job done," Salazar said in Louisiana.

Crude oil is pouring at a rate of up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day, according to government estimates, but experts said the exact quantity of crude escaping is hard to measure. Forecasters predict the spill will soon invade the coastlines of Mississippi as well as Alabama and Florida, which both declared states of emergency.

So far, efforts to plug the leak have failed. If unchecked, it will take about 50 days to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the worst U.S. oil spill, which sent 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's pristine Prince William Sound.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who is seeking to mobilize 6,000 National Guard troops, was worried about BP's ability to cope with the enormous challenges. BP's chief executive Tony Hayward promised an "aggressive" cleanup campaign.