Oil spill adds to US flood misery

The oil spill from the refinery has contaminated the floodwaters

A major oil spill has added to a flooding crisis across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas as evacuees wait for water to recede from their homes.

Some 42,000 gallons (160,000 litres) of crude oil have escaped from a refinery in Coffeyville, south-central Kansas, into the swollen Verdigris River.

Officials are now trying to prevent the slick floating downriver toward Oologah Lake, in Oklahoma.

Severe storms in the region have been blamed for 11 deaths in Texas alone.

President George W Bush has declared a major disaster in Kansas and ordered federal aid for recovery efforts.

Although the state was spared further rainfall on Monday, the poor weather showed no sign of abating over neighbouring Texas and eastern Oklahoma.

Pollution danger

The latest spill contaminated floodwaters and swept foul-smelling water into homes.

In Kansas, residents in Coffeyville, Independence and Osawatomie have been evacuated.

Our whole system will be at risk for contamination Jeff Morris Coffeyville city manager

Up to 3,000 people were forced from their homes during the weekend because of flooding from the Caney River in north-east Oklahoma.

And hundreds of people in northern Texas were still unable to return home near the Wichita and Brazos rivers because of flooding, power failures or fears of contaminated water.

The oil spill from the Coffeyville Resources refinery occurred as staff attempted to shut down the plant during a flood evacuation.

A pump at the 108,000 barrel-per-day facility apparently continued to push oil into a main storage tank until it overflowed.

Environmental protection agency officials said they were optimistic the spill would dissipate before it reached Oklahoma's Oologah Lake, which provides drinking water.

But Coffeyville city manager Jeff Morris warned that if the flood did not recede soon and allow the town to start pumping water back into the river basin, "our whole system will be at risk for contamination".