"Journalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials."
"With oil continuing to leak Wednesday from a runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico despite BP’s success in capturing some of the flow, a top Coast Guard official ordered the company to come up with a plan 'to ensure that the remaining oil and gas flowing can be recovered.'"
"Fishermen, property owners and businesspeople who have filed damage claims with BP are angrily complaining of delays, excessive paperwork and skimpy payments that have put them on the verge of going under as the financial and environmental toll of the seven-week-old disaster grows."
"The stock price of BP plunged more than 15 percent Wednesday to a 14-year low as it became increasingly clear that the amount of oil spewing out of the Deepwater Horizon well is substantially greater than the company or the federal government initially estimated." BP stock opened down another 4 percent today.
As the Gulf oil spill continues to spread and become a growing concern to more parts of the US, these key tools will help you tell and illustrate the story.
As BP increased the amount of oil it siphoned to the surface from the leaking Gulf well, it became clear that the total amount leaking was greater than previously admitted.
"BP PLC's 582-page regional spill plan for the Gulf, and its 52-page, site-specific plan for the Deepwater Horizon rig are riddled with omissions and glaring errors, according to an Associated Press analysis that details how BP officials have pretty much been making it up as they go along. The lengthy plans approved by the federal government last year before BP drilled its ill-fated well vastly understate the dangers posed by an uncontrolled leak and vastly overstate the company's preparedness to deal with one."
"The government and university researchers confirmed Tuesday that plumes of dispersed oil were spreading far below the ocean surface from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, raising fresh concern about the potential impact of the spill on sea life."
The changes affect only new drilling areas and may include greater consideration of environmental impacts, more public review, fewer "categorical exclusions" from environmental review, and more.
In 1981, EPA labeled the 26-acre Price's Pit landfill in New Jersey as the most serious environmental problem in the U.S. Thirty years later, a permanent remedy is just beginning and residents nearby are wondering about their long-term health problems.
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