Spread of Gulf oil spill puts fragile Louisiana Coast on alert

“Our response plan is focused on quickly securing the source of the subsurface oil emanating from the well, clean the oil on the surface of the water, and keeping the response well offshore,” Rear Adm. Mary Landry, incident commander and federal on-scene coordinator, said in a statement.

The agency said the cause of the explosion remains unknown.

Efforts to locate 11 workers from the tanker were called off Sunday as they were presumed dead. More than 100 workers managed to escape by helicopter soon after the explosion took place.

Second thoughts on the president's plans

Last month President Obama ended a moratorium on oil and gas drilling and exploration from Delaware to central Florida in the Atlantic, as well as opening the eastern Gulf of Mexico. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told Reuters that despite last week’s oil spill the president “still continues to believe the great majority of that can be done safely, securely and without any harm to the environment.”

However some members of the president’s party are speaking up, saying the explosion may be evidence that the issue needs further review.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D) of Florida said “the tragedy off the coast of Louisiana shows we need to be asking a lot more tough questions of big oil.”

He is asking the Interior Department to produce a report detailing all drilling accidents from the past decade. Echoing his concerns is Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) of Louisiana, who is also asking for an investigation into the spill.

Related:

Oil rig explosion unmasks 'dangerous myth' of safety, lawmakers say

Ecological risk grows as Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks in Gulf

Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion shows new risks

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