Oil Slick Seen Spreading West Of Mississippi River -
JindalLast update: 5/5/2010 2:08:43 PMBy Brian Baskin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES VENICE, La. (Dow Jones)--Plaquemines Parish launched its last-ditch defense against an approaching oil spill Wednesday, as reports came in that a "heavy" slick was within seven miles of shore. A barge carrying "soft" boom is headed out into the marshes along the eastern coast of Louisiana as a final line of protection if oil from the offshore BP PLC (BP) well spreads west of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The boom is designed to cut off "fingers" of oil that may spread off the main slick into the bayous along the coast, which would threaten the heart of the local fishing and shrimp industries. "If oil is in the backwaters and bayous, that's where it starts killing the food chain," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, speaking at a press conference at the launch of the barge from a shipyard at the southern tip of Louisiana. "Failure is not an option." The launch, delayed from Tuesday by weather, came as Nungesser said a boat pilot had reported spotting "heavy oil" seven miles off South Pass, and a lighter sheen of crude two miles closer inland. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts also for the first time show oil spreading west of the Mississippi River to the Louisiana coastline, said Governor Bobby Jindal, speaking at the same event. Jindal warned that once the oil reached coastal waters, currents would quickly carry the slick further west, potentially destroying fish and shrimp breeding grounds. Every available inch of deck space on the barge--the Blue Streak 7--was laden with six-foot mounds of cotton boom, made of a thick, white, ropelike material that can absorb oil. Local fishermen are being trained to lay out the boom wherever oil appears to have snaked around boom laid further out in the Gulf of Mexico and is approaching coastal marshes. The oil is seeping out of two leaks from a well that was being worked by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which caught fire on April 20 and sank two days later. The volume of oil spreading into the Gulf is unknown, though some estimates put the amount at 5,000 barrels a day. BP said Wednesday that a third leak had been plugged, though this was not expected to reduce the flow of oil into the Gulf. BP plans to install a containment device, resembling a large dome, over the well that within five or six days will funnel oil up to a rig on the surface. The company hopes the device will limit the impact of the leaks until a relief well can be drilled in the coming weeks or months. BP is also testing a chemical dispersant on oil close to the source of the leaks, which could prevent some crude from reaching the surface. A 24-hour test of the dispersants is underway to determine their effectiveness, Jindal said. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; brian.baskin@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones NewswiresMay 05, 2010 14:08 ET (18:08 GMT)