Worry that Gulf oil spreading into major current

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP said today it was siphoning more than one-fifth of the oil that has been spewing into the Gulf for almost a month, as worries escalated that the ooze may reach a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast. BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles said today on NBC’s “Today” that a mile-long tube was funneling a little more than 1,000 barrels - 42,000 gallons - of crude a day from a blown well into a tanker ship. The company and the U.S. Coast Guard have estimated about 5,000 barrels - 210,000 gallons - have been spewing out each day. Engineers finally got the contraption working on Sunday after weeks of failed solutions - however, millions of gallons of oil are already in the Gulf of Mexico.