Coast Guard Says Weather Could Push Oil Toward Lake Pontchartrain

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Coast Guard says wind and currents are pushing the oil west and into sensitive wetland areas south of New Orleans. Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says estuaries connecting Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans could be contaminated.

"It's going to be a long weekend from an oil-spill response perspective. And we expect that there's going to continue to be intermittent periods of rain and thunderstorms due to a trough system across the Gulf of Mexico." :15

Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary rich in fishing that's linked to the Gulf through marshes and lagoons. Oil has already gone past barrier islands in the Gulf that protect the wetlands, and into the Mississippi Delta regions.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.