Obama to visit spill area Sunday for an update

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a ruptured deepwater well spilled millions of gallons of oil into the water, a White House official said.

No further details were disclosed about the timing or the exact location of the visit, the official said aboard Air Force One as the president landed in Detroit for a speech.

The unchecked spill has reached the coast of Louisiana, threatening fish and shrimp breeding grounds and vulnerable wetlands teeming with wildlife. It could become one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.