Fears that oil from a massive Gulf of Mexico spill was drifting to US shorelines rose on Tuesday after tar balls were found in Florida, while BP faced mounting pressure to stem its leaking well. In a sign of the spill’s widening environmental impact, the United States nearly doubled a no-fishing zone in waters seen affected by the oil gushing from the blown well, extending it to 19 percent of US waters in the Gulf.
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But President Barack Obama, whose administration has taken a tough line on BP and other companies sullied by the disaster, saw his drive to increase corporate liability limits for those responsible for oil spills, halted in Congress. “I am disappointed that an effort to ensure that oil companies pay fully for disasters they cause has stalled in the United States Senate on a partisan basis,” said the Democratic president, who blamed Republicans for the impasse.

London-based BP, which has seen US $30 billion wiped from its market value, said it was capturing an estimated 2,000 barrels per day after inserting a siphon tube into the well, which began gushing after 20 April oil rig explosion.That was about 40 per cent of the 5,000 barrels BP estimated was leaking each day. The energy giant said it hoped to increase the amount of contained oil, and its shares closed up about 1 per cent on Tuesday. But a new video of the well showed what appeared to be vast amounts of oil continuing to spew into the ocean.

While officials have stressed the slick’s limited impact on prized Gulf beaches, fisheries and wildlife, the discovery of tar balls on a Key West island resort late Monday stoked concern that currents were greatly expanding the oil’s reach.Oil debris and tar balls have been reported in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, and miles of protective booms are being used to defend the shore.The appearance of new tar balls on a beach is often an indication of an oil spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says on its website.

Tests were being done to confirm whether the 20 new tar balls — they ranged from three to eight inches (7.6 -20 cm) in diameter — came from the BP spill, which threatens to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska to become the worst ecological disaster in US history.

“We believe it is unlikely (the tar balls) are from the Gulf oil spill, but we’ll know for sure in a couple of days,” Key West Mayor Craig Cates said. The Florida Keys are a major hub for the state’s US $60 billion-a-year tourism industry. US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose district includes the Keys, said the tar balls, if confirmed as coming from the spill, would mean that Florida had entered “unchartered territory, with serious ramifications on our environment and economy.”                                                                                                   News Agency

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