Patches of oil washed ashore in Port Eads, Louisiana on Monday as the oil spill from the BP rig continues to spread in the Gulf. Large brownish reddish globs of oil were seen on the sand and in reeds on the marshland. Marine biologist Rick Steiner collected several samples of the oil globules found on a beach.

Rick Steiner: “The big story here is that finally oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout forty miles offshore has reached the southern tip of the Mississippi Delta. It’s here on land. It’s coming up in small globules so far, and the response workers are doing what they can on it, but it’s here. It’s going to continue. And I think it’s the sad state of what we’re in store for down here for the next several months.”

The oil spill will be center stage on Capitol Hill today as oil industry officials face questioning from the Senate’s energy and environment committees.