President Obama is calling it a "potentially unprecedented environmental disaster."
And there appears to be no way to stop the hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil from the damaged well heading toward Florida beaches.
Steve Otwell, a food science professor and seafood specialist at UF, says this is the worst spill he's seen... and if the oil creeping toward Florida coasts damages marine resources, the clean-up process won't be fast... or easy.
Governor Charlie Crist has extended the State of Emergency south to Sarasota County... including Levy and Dixie counties here in North Central Florida.
Officials in Levy and Dixie counties are monitoring the situation but haven't activated their Emergency Operation Centers yet.
The State Emergency Operation Center is in a partial activation mode.