U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to triple the number of people involved in clean-up operations in areas along the Gulf of Mexico where oil from a massive spill has washed ashore or approached the coast.
The U.S. president arrived in Louisiana on Friday to supervise clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, which currently involve some 20,000 people.
"This increase will allow us to further intensify this already historic response, contain and remove oil more quickly, and help minimize the time that any oil comes into contact with our coastline," Obama said at the Coast Guard station in the town of Grand Isle.
The oil spill is "an assault on our shores, on our people, on the regional economy, and on communities like this one," he said, adding "this isn't just a mess that we've gotta mop up, people are watching their livelihoods wash up on the beach."
An explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the Louisiana coast, on April 20, causing a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil continues to gush from the broken well into the sea despite a month of work to stop the leak.
According to estimates by specialists, the oil spill is affecting around 20 protected areas of the United States and threatens some 40 types of marine mammal.
On Friday, Obama reiterated that the British Petroleum company operating the stricken rig was responsible for the disaster. However, as the U.S. president, he is "accountable" for tackling the disaster, he said.
On Thursday, Obama said he was suspending plans for new oil drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico until the investigation into the April 20 incident is concluded.
Russia, along with other countries, has offered its assistance in tackling the consequences of the oil spill.
WASHINGTON, May 29 (RIA Novosti)
