**Criticism of BP is mounting in the US over its handling of the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.**Calls for swifter action were led by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who urged BP to commit more resources to tackling the catastrophe.
The British energy giant was also criticised by President Barack Obama and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
The sprawling oil slick has begun washing up on the Louisiana coast and is threatening three other states.
Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day are gushing into the sea after the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank last week.
Wildlife casualties
Analysts say it could soon rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster as the worst spill in US history.
Mississippi and Alabama have joined Louisiana and Florida in declaring a state of emergency.
Animal rescue groups have been receiving their first patients - seabirds coated in oil.
Worsening weather conditions have been hampering efforts to contain the slick, which is more than 130 miles (200km) long.
Choppy seas were driving oil over inflatable booms set up to protect the coastline.
And forecasters said strong winds could push the oil into inlets, ponds and lakes in south-east Louisiana over the weekend.
The homeland security secretary flew into Louisiana on Friday to deliver a stark message to BP, which had been leasing the rig.
“We continue to urge BP to leverage additional assets to help lead the response in this effort,” said Ms Napolitano.
After several unsuccessful attempts to plug the leak, she said, it was “time for BP to supplement their current mobilisation”.
Some 1,900 emergency workers and more than 300 ships and aircraft are being sent to the disaster zone, President Barack Obama has announced.
In a White House statement, he said BP was “ultimately responsible… for paying the costs of response and clean-up operations”.
Lawsuits
The president said he had asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to conduct a “thorough review” of the catastrophe and report back in 30 days on ways to prevent a repeat.
As the first strands of the slick reached Louisiana’s coast, Governor Jindal said the oil firm did not seem prepared for the clean-up job.
“I do have concerns that BP’s resources are not adequate,” he said.
The first lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of fisherman, in what could end up as a barrage of litigation.
BP spokeswoman Sheila William told AFP news agency the energy firm was prepared to assume costs for the clean-up and for damages.
The oil giant’s chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, said it had mounted “the largest response effort ever done in the world”.
BP says it has begun using dispersants underwater in an attempt to break up the leaking oil at its source.
The oil giant has also dispatched remotely operated vehicles to try to shut off an underwater valve, so far without success.
The firm is also having a relief-well drilled to slow the leak, though experts say that could take up to three months.
Drilling on hold
US Air Force planes have been deployed to spray oil-dispersing chemicals off the coast of Louisiana.
Two C-130 Hercules cargo planes will join civilian aircraft that have been dumping chemicals to break up the slick.
The US Navy and Louisiana National Guard have also been mobilised.
Fishermen - who face losing their livelihood from the spill - have been drafted in to help.
Wetlands off the Louisiana coast sustain hundreds of wildlife species and a major seafood and fishing industry.
The cause of last week’s blast, which left 11 workers missing, presumed dead, remains unclear.
It has emerged that BP last year downplayed the possibility of such a disaster at the offshore rig.
In BP’s 2009 exploration plan for the well, the firm suggested an oil spill was unlikely or virtually impossible, AP news agency reports.
The US government said on Friday it was putting on hold all new offshore drilling until the cause of the spill is investigated.
Last month, President Obama eased a moratorium on new offshore drilling.
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