BP Oil Spill Threatens Mississippi and Alabama Coasts

The crude oil spewing from BP’s ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico now threatens the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). In addressing damage to the Gulf’s natural resources, the group has issued a warning that moderate southerly winds forecast through today may move oil north to threaten the barrier islands off Mississippi and Alabama.

The NOAA forecast is just another reminder that the oil spill - if left unchecked for several more weeks - could threaten a vast area of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Looking ahead to hurricane season, meteorologists are also warning that storm surges threaten to wash more oil onto shore.

This dismal news comes as BP prepares to mount another attempt to stem the flow of crude into the Gulf. The company plans to saw off an oil pipe and top it with a containment cap. The operation, which is likely to begin today, could actually increase the flow rate of oil by up to 20% until the cap is placed over the leak, according to a statement from the White House.

Despite preparations for this latest attempt to contain the oil spill, both BP executives and White House officials admit the ultimate solution may only lie in drilling two relief wells. Unfortunately, the relief wells are not expected to be complete until August.

Now, as public anger over the spill continues to mount, a group called Seize BP is staging demonstrations, demanding that BP's assets be immediately seized and held in trust. On its website the group states:

When the bill comes due, BP will pick up and leave town. The corporation will be “reorganized” or dissolved with its assets handed over to some other conglomerate before it has to pay out. Its executives will be paid handsomely; the people whose lives it has destroyed will be left to suffer.

The government of the United States must seize BP and freeze its assets, and place those funds in trust to begin providing immediate relief to the working people throughout the Gulf states whose jobs, communities, homes and businesses are being harmed or destroyed by the criminally negligent actions of the CEO, Board of Directors and senior management of BP.

The outrage and frustration over the spill poses a critical domestic challenge for President Obama who has been forced to defend his administration’s response to what is now the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

President Obama and National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen have said that the U.S. government and military do not possess the equipment necessary to stop the unprecedented BP oil leak and must work with BP and its private industry partners to fully contain the ruptured deepwater well.