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• Scientists monitoring gulf wildlife for spill changes

  October 29, 2010 9:51 AM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A team of scientists are leaving on a research cruise to see if the BP oil spill hurt deep-sea coral and organisms that live around natural oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. It's counterintuitive, but scientists say an oil spill could hurt... more »

• Scientists lower Gulf health grade

  October 19, 2010 8:09 AM

  Scientists say that six months after the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, damage to the Gulf of Mexico is less dramatic than some had predicted. In an informal Associated Press survey, 35 researchers who study the Gulf lowered their rating of its ecological health by several points.... more »

• Salazar visits Vestas, lifts drilling ban

  October 12, 2010 8:32 PM

  U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is lifting the ban on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The former U.S. Senator from Colorado spoke about the issue as he kicked off a national renewable energy tour on Tuesday. His first stop was the Vestas wind tower factory in... more »

• BP probe: plenty of blame for oil spill

  September 8, 2010 9:38 AM

  Oil giant BP said in an internal report released Wednesday - before a key piece of evidence has been analyzed - that multiple companies and work teams contributed to the massive Gulf of Mexico spill that fouled waters and shorelines for months. In its 193-page report posted on its... more »

• Remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine head north

  September 8, 2010 8:23 AM

  Its power spent, what's left of Tropical Storm Hermine is making its way north. Hermine was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday night bringing downpours and winds gusting to about 70 mph in south Texas and northeastern Mexico. Remnants of the storm could spread as far north as... more »

• Oil platform catches fire in Gulf; workers OK

  September 3, 2010 9:02 AM

  A company official says the incident aboard a Mariner Energy oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico is considered a fire, not an explosion. The Coast Guard says there was no leak, and no one was killed. The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile... more »

• BP says cost of Gulf of Mexico spill hits $8 billion

  September 3, 2010 8:28 AM

  BP says it has so far spent $8 billion responding to the disastrous oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said Friday that the total included $399 million paid to settle 127,000 claims from businesses and other affected by the oil spill. The oil company... more »

• Oil sheen spreading from Gulf platform explosion

  September 2, 2010 2:12 PM

  The Coast Guard is saying that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site off an offshore petroleum platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana. The site of the explosion is west of where BP's massive spill occurred. The Coast Guard said no one... more »

• Endangered turtles saved from oil spill

  September 1, 2010 3:49 PM

  Dozens of turtles that were once covered with oil, are now back home in the Gulf of Mexico. A rehabilitation center released 42 Kemps Ridleys turtles this week. They were among the first victims of the gulf oil spill. 3 The Kemps Ridleys are the most endangered turtles... more »

• BP to remove cap, replace blowout preventer

  August 27, 2010 12:55 PM

  The federal government said it will start work Monday to remove the temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing out of BP's blown-out Gulf well so that engineers can raise a key piece of equipment from the seabed. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the spill response, told... more »

• New microbe discovered eating Gulf oil spill

  August 24, 2010 3:31 PM

  A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe suddenly is flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico and gobbling up the BP spill at a much faster rate than expected, scientists reported Tuesday. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled since... more »

• Louisiana shrimpers reporting clean 1st day catch

  August 17, 2010 8:14 AM

  Commercial shrimpers who spent much of the summer mopping up oil in the Gulf of Mexico say the first day back to doing what they normally do was a good one. Shrimpers indicate the first catch since BP's disastrous spill was plentiful and, just as importantly, free of oil.... more »

• Oil crews watch stormy weather over Fla.

  August 9, 2010 11:15 AM

  Officials working on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are watching a cluster of storms over Florida that could develop into a tropical disturbance. The government point man on the oil spill, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Monday he is not currently planning to suspend... more »

• BP to begin forcing cement down well

  August 5, 2010 8:20 AM

  BP officials say they plan to begin forcing cement down the blown-out Gulf oil well today. The announcement came last night shortly after their plan was approved by the federal official in charge of the oil spill. The company plans to shove cement down from pipes attached to ships... more »

• FDA declares Gulf seafood safe to eat

  August 3, 2010 9:15 AM

  Seafood from some parts of the oil-fouled Gulf of Mexico has been declared safe to eat by the government, based in part on human smell tests. But even some Gulf fishermen are questioning whether the fish and shrimp are OK to feed to their own families. Some are turning... more »

• BP could begin capping operation today

  August 3, 2010 8:07 AM

  BP engineers in the Gulf of Mexico want to start sealing up the blown-out oil well today, but first they're running a test. They plan to probe the busted blowout preventer with an oil-like liquid to determine whether it can handle the sealing-up process, called a "static kill." If... more »

• Gulf crews prepare to start plugging well for good

  August 2, 2010 8:20 AM

  Today could be the beginning of sealing up BP's blown-out oil well for good. Engineers in the Gulf of Mexico hope to begin shoving mud through lines installed last month straight down the throat of the leaky well. If mud forces the oil back into the massive underground reservoir... more »

• NC expert: Gulf oil unlikely to reach East Coast

  July 29, 2010 1:45 PM

  An expert on marine sciences and coastal circulation says it's unlikely oil from BP's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico will reach the East Coast. Roy He of North Carolina State University said Thursday the chances are low in part because the well is capped for now. ... more »

• Official: Make BP pay to restore tourism

  July 27, 2010 11:36 AM

  The head of the U.S. Travel Association is proposing that BP set aside $500 million for a marketing campaign to help draw tourists to the Gulf Coast. Roger Dow makes the proposal in prepared testimony to a House panel looking at the oil spill's impact on tourism. The New... more »

• Testing delayed on oil well cap

  July 14, 2010 8:26 AM

  BP is delaying critical tests on a new well cap designed to finally stop the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico after government officials said more analysis was needed on the plan. BP engineers were scheduled to start slowly shutting off valves on the 75-ton metal stack... more »

• BP to start testing new cap on Gulf oil well

  July 13, 2010 8:14 AM

  Testing of a new, tighter cap on the Gulf gusher begins today to see if the device can stop the spewing crude. BP plans to gradually shut the valves to see if the oil stops or if it starts leaking from another part of the well. BP robots finished... more »

• Babies of the oil spill face an uncertain future

  July 12, 2010 10:26 AM

  The smallest victims may be the biggest challenge for crews rescuing birds fouled with oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. Some have gotten separated from their parents, or lost them when they died in a slick. Lucky orphans are taken to a cleaning center at Fort Jackson, La.,... more »

• BP ahead of schedule on cap; releases latest costs

  July 12, 2010 8:12 AM

  BP says it's ahead of schedule as underwater robots steadily assemble heavy metal pieces in what could be the most significant progress yet toward containing the Gulf oil spill. BP is aiming for completion today of a new, tighter cap it hopes will allow the containment of all the... more »

• Feds ask court to reinstate drilling moratorium

  July 7, 2010 1:16 PM

  Federal authorities have asked an appeals court to reinstate a moratorium on deepwater drilling declared after BP's oil well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico. In a filing late Tuesday in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the government challenged a federal judge's finding the Interior Department... more »

• Oil spill reaches Lake Pontchartrain

  July 7, 2010 8:34 AM

  Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans is the latest site where oil from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico is appeared. The lake was rescued from pollution in 1990s and had once again become a bountiful fishing ground and a popular spot for boating and swimming. ... more »

• BP: Oil containment operations resume after fire

  June 15, 2010 4:30 PM

  BP says oil containment operations have resumed in the Gulf of Mexico after a ship fire caused by a bolt of lightning had shut down the containment for about five hours. BP spokesman Bill Salvin tells The Associated Press that containment operations resumed at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday. He... more »

• Gulf oil spill bigger than previously thought

  June 11, 2010 8:39 AM

  Researchers studying the flow of oil from the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico say as much as twice the amount of oil as previously thought may have been spewing into the sea. The head of the group analyzing data and images said Thursday that... more »

• BP contradicts government claim on oil plumes

  June 9, 2010 10:02 AM

  BP's chief operating officer Doug Suttles denied reports of underwater plumes of oil Wednesday, one day after government scientists confirmed the existence of oil beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. "We haven't found any large concentrations of oil under the sea. To my knowledge, no one has,"... more »

• Saw stuck in latest Gulf oil fix

  June 2, 2010 10:39 AM

  Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says crews are shooting chemical dispersants at oil that began leaking when a saw became stuck in the latest attempt to contain the Gulf oil gusher. The saw snagged as it was cutting through a pipe on a busted well. Allen said Wednesday the... more »

• Pressure grows on BP to contain oil spill

  May 21, 2010 9:38 AM

  Thick, sticky oil crept deeper into delicate marshes of the Mississippi Delta Friday, an arrival dreaded for a month since the crude started spewing into the Gulf, as anger and frustration mounted over efforts to plug the gusher from a blown-out well and contain the spill. Up to now,... more »

• BP focuses on tube to stem Gulf oil gusher

  May 13, 2010 3:55 PM

  BP officials trying to contain a gushing Gulf oil leak will first try sucking oil away from the well with a tube that will be inserted into the jagged pipe leaking on the seafloor. Company spokesman Bill Salvin said Thursday BP hopes to start moving the 6-inch tube into... more »

• BP says its Gulf oil spill costs now $450 million

  May 13, 2010 9:26 AM

  The cost of fighting a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill is mounting rapidly for the global oil company that owns the well. London-based BP PLC says it has spent $450 million since the spill started after an April 20 oil rig explosion. That's up by $100 million from... more »

• Despite gulf spill, Americans still want drilling

  May 13, 2010 8:11 AM

  A new poll finds that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill hasn't stained President Barack Obama nor dimmed the public's desire for offshore energy drilling. While some conservative pundits have called this "Obama's Katrina," that's not how the public feels. The AP-GfK poll found that BP PLC, the company... more »

• Smaller container reaches gulf seafloor

  May 12, 2010 11:10 AM

  BP says a second, smaller container has reached the seafloor, but it hasn't yet been placed over the blown-out well fouling the Gulf of Mexico. BP spokesman Bill Salvin said Wednesday that the 2-ton box had reached the seabed overnight. He says it hasn't been positioned over the... more »

• Preparing for possible ill effects from oil spill

  May 7, 2010 8:39 AM

  State and federal authorities are preparing to deal with a variety of hazards to human health if and when the full brunt of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill washes ashore. The list of potential threats runs from temporary, minor nuisances such as runny noses and headaches to long-term... more »