Coast Guard: Hundreds of boats being deployed to lay boom to corral oil from Gulf Coast spill

Coast Guard says boats deployed to curtail spill

MOBILE, Ala. — A Coast Guard official says hundreds of boats have been deployed to lay thousands of feet of inflatable boom in an effort to keep the Gulf Coast oil spill from reaching shore.

Spokesman Lt. James McKnight says the latest update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association doesn’t show oil reaching the Florida coast within the next 72 hours but he expects it to hit Mississippi by then.

McKnight says they’re using every sort of boat available in the Mobile, Ala. region, including barges and small boats.

The Coast Guard estimates that about 200,000 gallons of oil are spewing out each day since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers.

Officials are watching the winds and currents to see where the massive slick is headed.