The US military could get involved in helping to contain three oil leaks in the Gulf of Mexico as officials said the leakage was up to five times than originally reported, according to dpa. "Military help would be a good option," Cory Mendenhall of the US Coast Guard told the German Press Agency dpa Thursday. "It would be a lot more manpower." Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration, said the energy giant would "take help from anyone." "We welcome the offer from the Department of Defence," Suttles said on broadcaster NBC Thursday morning. It was not clear if the Pentagon had actually offered help. The crude oil slick from the spouting deepwater well has moved near enough to the Louisiana Mississippi River delta to be spotted by a local ship captain, said Damen McKnight, who owns a tour company that takes out fishing boats with tourists. He told dpa that another captain he works with had spotted rusty coloured spots typical of the oil slick about 6 kilometres offshore. By law, oil company BP is responsible for costs from the clean-up, while the Coast Guard must supervise their efforts to make sure they meet environmental and legal requirements. Meanwhile, Suttles and others raised the estimated rate of leakage from the damaged well to as much as 5,000 barrels a day, five times more than the 1,000 barrels a day previously feared spilling into the water around off the coast of Louisiana. BP spokesman Daren Beaudo confirmed to dpa that the authorities had raised their estimate of the leakage rate. A third leak in the pipe from the well on the sea floor was discovered late Wednesday, he said. The leaks are equivalent to nearly 800,000 litres of crude oil per day, a rough estimate issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The spreading crude oil could reach Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta by Friday, NOAA's Charlie Henry told reporters Wednesday. Managers of shoreline wildlife refuges were preparing to herd birds away from the shoreline with fireworks and other noise devices.
