Thursday, President Obama asked for the US Department of Defense to help BP with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to see what can be done before and after the massive oil slick hits land.
Three top US officials will tour the area in Louisiana on Friday: Janet Napolitano, the Secretary for Homeland Security, and Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary and Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Napolitano said that the oil slick was “a spill of national significance.”
“We will continue to push BP to engage in the strongest response possible,” Ms. Napolitano said. “We will continue to oversee those efforts, and add to those efforts where we deem necessary.”
Thursday afternoon, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and said that the oil slick “threatens the state’s natural resources.”
Wednesday, the US government said may have been five times worse than what they thought, and the oil well may be leaking up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
The Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded last week and sank into the 5,000 feet of ocean water about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It is estimated that this oil spill is the worst offshore oil rig spill in the US in the last forty years.
11 workers from the oil rig are presumed dead after the oil rig exploded and sank last week, and 7 were critically injured and had to be airlifted out.
Scroll down to see incredible photos of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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