BP oil spill a threat to Virginia, Carolina shores

Ocean experts say the swelling tendrils of the Gulf Coast oil disaster will stretch within reach of popular Washington-area beach destinations -- maybe as soon as next month.

"If I had money down on a rental property in the Outer Banks, I'd have some concerns," said Jim Carton, chairman of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland.

Carton was quick to add he didn't believe the East Coast was in danger of the type of "horrendous environmental disaster" infecting Louisiana's shores. But he said Virginia and the Carolinas could see their share of oil.

Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay -- thanks to favorable geographic and oceanic formations -- are likely safe, Carton said.

Thousands of barrels of oil are roiling in an eddy along the Gulf Coast, the result of an April explosion at British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

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