A sheen of oil from the Gulf¹ of Mexico spill is nearing the white sand beaches of north-west Florida, officials say.

美国官员称，一层墨西哥湾海地钻井漏油正逼近佛罗里达州西北部海岸。

The slick, containing thousands of tar² balls（原油球块） , is only nine miles (15km) from Pensacola on the Florida "panhandle（柄状狭长区域） ".

"It's inevitable³ that we will see it on the beaches," said Keith Wilkins, an Escambia County official.

Meanwhile, BP's efforts to cap the leaking well got back on track as a saw that had become stuck in a thick pipe on the sea bed for hours was freed.

The company is attempting to contain the spill from the well by cutting off the fractured（断裂的） pipe and sealing it with a cap.

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said crews were shooting chemical dispersants（分散剂） at the oil now leaking out of the new cut.

Barriers approved

Forecasters suggest the oil spill may reach Florida's shores as soon as Friday.

Workers have been rushing to place more booms along the threatened coastline in an effort to protect its beaches and wildlife.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist said the oil sheen observed off the state's north-west coast contained thousands of tar balls, heavy globs（一滴，水珠） of decayed（腐败的） oil.

"The goal is to remove that oil from near shore waters and prevent or minimise any potential impacts on our state," he told reporters.

In Louisiana, the worst-affected state, Governor Bobby Jindal told a news conference that the White House had approved the construction of five sand barriers（障碍，栅栏） , or berms（狭径，小平台） , off its coastline - and had ordered BP to pay for the work.

Mr Jindal has strongly criticised the Obama administration and BP over the past few days for being too slow to respond to the crisis.

"Every day they wait, every day they make us wait, we're losing our battle to protect our coast," he said.

Oil debris（碎片，残骸） has also reached Alabama's Dauphin Island and parts of the Mississippi shoreline.

BP estimates that the disaster has so far cost the company approximately $990m (£674m) in clean-up costs, but has refused to speculate（推测，考虑） on future expenses.

BP share prices continued to plummet⁴（垂直落下） in trading on the London stock exchange on Wednesday, amid news the US justice department has opened several civil and criminal inquiries⁵ into the Gulf spill.