Coast Guard will start burning some Gulf slick oil
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Racing against a threat to environmentally sensitive marshlands, authorities planned to begin Wednesday burning some of the thickest oil from a rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana. A Coast Guard spokesman says the burn was expected to begin in the morning. Petty Officer 2nd Class Prentice Danner says fire-resistant containment booms will be used to corral some of the thickest oil on the water's surface, which will then be ignited. It was unclear how large an area would be set on fire or how far from shore the first fire would be set. The slick is the result of oil leaking from the site of last week's huge explosion of the rig Deepwater Horizon that left 11 people missing and presumed dead. Oil continues to spill undersea at an estimated rate of 42,000 gallons a day.