Description: www.timesofearth.com Louisiana - Small amounts of oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico have reached US shores. Officials said the leak, from an oil rig sunk by a massive explosion last week, was five times worse than previously thought, and could trigger a disaster of "national significance" on the Gulf coast. By sunset on Thursday, the oil had reached the mouth of Mississippi River, lapping at the shoreline in long, thin lines and threatening birds, marine life and some of the country's richest seafood grounds. The massive slick has prompted the southern US state of Louisiana to declare a state of emergency and the White House to step up its response. Barack Obama, the US president, said his administration would use every resource at its disposal, including the military, to stop the spill and help alleviate its impact. "While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and cleanup operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the department of defence, to address the incident," Obama said on Thursday. BP, the British energy company responsible for the damage caused by the leak, said it was grateful for the offer of help from the military. "We'll take help from anyone, I mean we welcome the offer from the department of defence, we're working with the experts across the industry," Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP's exploration and production unit, said. "We're ...