Coast Guard considers controlled burn of Deepwater Horizon slick

As noted in last night's NOAA update, the Coast Guard may today try a controlled burn of portions of the oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon incident.

CNN reports Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Leeman as saying the burn operation likely will begin between 11 a.m. and noon CT (noon and 1 p.m. ET). There are still many variables to be worked out, he said, including finding oil in the slick that will burn, gathering the oil into an enclosed area with booms and safety issue.

The Coast Guard would use a 500-foot-long, flame-retardant boom to gather some of the oil and then burn only the crude inside its perimeter, CNN quotes spokeswoman Lt. Sue Kerver as saying.