There are fears of an environmental disaster in the Gulf¹ of Mexico, as efforts to clear up an oil spill have been suspended because of bad weather.

美国墨西哥湾海域原油清理工作因天气原因被迫停止，有人担心这会对附近海域的生态环境造成影响。

The slick has now grown to about 1,500 sq km

A drilling rig leased（租用） by the oil company BP exploded and sank off Louisiana coast last Thursday.

Some 1,000 barrels of oil a day are now leaking into the sea from the damaged well, officials say.

They say the oil leak has the potential to damage beaches, barrier islands（障壁岛，堰洲岛） and wetlands across the coastline.

Eleven workers are still missing and presumed to have been killed in the accident. The search for them has been called off（取消） .

More than 100 other workers were rescued.

The Deepwater Horizon had been burning for 36 hours when it sank on Thursday in 5,000 ft (1,500m) of water, despite efforts to control the flames.

It was carrying out exploratory drilling（勘探钻井） 84km (52 miles) south-east of Venice, Louisiana when the blast occurred.

'Highly complex task'

Bad weather caused cleanup efforts to be suspended over the weekend, allowing the slick to grow to about 580 sq miles (1,500 sq km), officials say.

BP has been using a robot submarine to try to activate² a blowout preventer（防喷器） - a series of pipes and valves（阀门，真空管） that could stop the leak.

However, this was a "highly complex task" and "it may not be successful", chief operating officer of BP's exploration and production unit Doug Suttles was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The company has also brought in more than 30 cleanup vessels³ and several aircraft to spray dispersant（分散剂） on the floating oil.

At the moment, the weather conditions are keeping the oil away from the coastline and it is hoped the waves will break up the heavy crude oil, allowing it to harden and sink back to the ocean floor.