Latest updates and pictures from the BP oil spill

The Gulf oil spill has invaded much of the Louisiana marshland.  AP Photo

Yesterday was a lost battle in what is now a long war against the BP oil spill.  Containment efforts were stalled for much of the day after BP had to remove the cap being used to capture much of the leaking oil.  As a result oil flowed uncontrollably for much of the day.  The oil spill also expanded to impact many beaches in northwest Florida.  Here are the latest updates on the Gulf oil spill.  Pictures from the disaster can be seen below.

-  Containment efforts took a step back yesterday when BP was forced to remove the cap used to siphon oil to the surface.  An underwater robot collided with the device causing one fo the crucial vents to stop working.  As a result of the removal, oil flowed uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico for much of the day yesterday.  The cap has now been reattached, but one anonymous official with BP said it will take a while for the device to get ramped back up to its previous performance.  At its peak the device was capturing around 25,000 barrels of oil from the leak.  The most recent estimates have anywhere from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels leaking each day.

-  The largest impact of the oil spill remains in Louisiana though over 70% of the coastline in the state remains unaffected.  Yesterday Florida began to see heavy oil hit their beaches for the first time.  Some beaches west of Pensacola are now closed to swimming and wading, and cleanup crews can be seen working to remove heavy oil from the white sand beaches in Pensacola itself (photos below).  The most recent projection map has the oil spill shifting slightly west and impacting portions of Alabama and possibly even Mississippi over the next 48 hours.

-  The long-term health effects of the spill are starting to be a concern for cleanup crews and residents along the Gulf Coast.  As Fox News documents, over 407 oil exposure complaints have been filed thus far to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.  In Louisiana alone over 100 oil spill related sicknesses have been reported.

-  Two people involved in the cleanup effort have died.  One death was reportedly some kind of swimming pool accident and unrelated to the spill itself.  The other death was from a gunshot would to the head which appears to be self-inflicted.  The apparent suicide was from a boat captain hired by BP to cleanup the spill.

-  Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar is expected to issue a new order implementing a ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The new order will provide more justification for th ban after a federal judge ruled the last moratorium "arbitrary."  In addition, the Obama administration may be more flexible in allowing some deepwater rigs to continue drilling based on individual circumstances.