Efforts to shut down leak at Deepwater Horizon oil rig continue
| NEW ORLEANS (AP)
Authorities continue to monitor the size and direction of a Gulf of Mexico oil sheen by air, while using robotic underwater equipment to try to shut off its source at a wrecked deepwater drilling platform.
The Coast Guard and the companies that owned an operated the rig plan a Monday afternoon news conference in Robert, La., the site of a command center established over the weekend to deal with the crisis.
The oil has been leaking at a rate estimated at 42,000 gallons a day. Workers are trying to make sure the oil doesn't reach the Gulf Coast's fragile ecosystem.
An explosion on the floating deep water rig last Tuesday night led to a huge fire and the eventual sinking of the rig. The search for 11 missing workers was called off on Friday.
