Gulf oil spill: Alabama governor calls in National Guard

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CNN reports that the Alabama Gov. Robert Riley has called in the National Guard to begin preparing barriers against the oil slick drifting toward his state, as well as shoreline areas of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Riley said 80% of the thousands of feet of boom laid down off the gulf coast had broken down because of rough seas and bad weather.

Alabama is home to one of the region’s biggest oil ports, Mobile. The state produces about $2.5 billion of oil and natural gas annually, according to state data.

-- Geoff Mohan