Some Fear Oil From Gulf Spill Could Reach N.C.

Oil from the Gulf Coast spill could sweep northward to the Carolinas within a few weeks if the situation doesn't improve, some experts say.

Others are calling it a remote possibility - saying their biggest worry is for the N.C. fishing industry, which depends on Gulf Coast oysters and shrimp in the off season.

The spill is at the top of the "very energetic" Loop Current, a part of the Gulf Stream that sends water south along the western Florida shelf, around the state and northward along the East Coast, said Jerald Ault, a professor of marine biology at the University of Miami.

"The net result is, the potential for dispersion is very high," he said.

Whether oil from the spill makes it into the current depends on a few factors, such as the volume of oil being leaked and how quickly responders are able to clean it. If it gets swept into Loop, the oil could drift north as far as Cape Hatteras within a week - though a more conservative estimate would be two weeks to a month, he said.

Either way, "you definitely could be seeing oil that way," he said.

N.C. Geologist Kenneth Taylor said that's a remote possibility.

"The key thing about it is, there are currents," said Taylor, who serves as disaster response and recovery coordinator for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "If it gets into the Gulf Stream, it could go to Canada. But is there enough oil ... to get in there?"

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