Oil hitting Ala. beaches worst yet since spill

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Alabama's beaches took their worst hit yet from an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday as globs of crude and gooey tar - some the size of pancakes - lined the white sands and crews worked to try to keep a giant oil sheen just a few miles away from reaching the shore.

Scientists have estimated that anywhere between about 40 million gallons to 109 million gallons of oil have gushed into the Gulf since a drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The oil washing up on Alabama's shores was the heaviest since the rig explosion and came just as the summer beach season was picking up.

During a flight over the Gulf, Sean Brumley, an aerial spotter, said he saw an oily sheen and brown patches of oil floating for miles off the Alabama coast. Boats trying to remove the oil before it hit the coast worked about three miles out.

"The Gulf looks like it has chicken pox," Brumley said.

Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., Saturday, June 12, 2010. Large amounts of the oil battered the Alabama coast, leaving deposits of the slick mess some 4-6 inches thick on the beach in some parts. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) (Dave Martin - AP)