Latest updates and photos from the Gulf Coast oil spill

A look at the Gulf Coast oil spill from a surface boat.  AP Photo

Unfortunately, yesterday saw little positive news on the Gulf Coast oil spill.  The leak continue to let out approximately 5,000 barrels of oil each day and so far none of the proposed solutions have worked.  While the oil has been kept offshore for the most part, scientists are beginning to question what effect the massive spill will have in the open ocean.  Here is the latest news on the spill.  Pictures of the spill and its effects can be seen below.

-  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is concerned about the amount of available oil booms for the Gulf Coast.  So far, 1.4 million feet of boom have been deployed but the governmental agency is concerned about dwindling supplies.  New boom is being produced, but no one knows if it will be ready and delivered in time to keep the oil off the shores.

-  BP has begun to take claims from residents of the Gulf Coast who are claiming damages from the spill.  Most prominent on that list is fisherman and shrimpers who are now jobless because of the spill.  The Washington Post has printed an excellent article about the process of suing a company like British Petroleum for a disaster such as this.  The article quotes one lawyer with extensive experience in suing large companies in these kind of circumstances.

-  At least six dead dolphins have been found on the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama since the spill.  Tests are being done to confirm whether the oil had anything to do with the death of dolphins.

-  Executives from British Petroleum, Haliburton, and Transocean all testified before Congress concerning the spill.  Not surprisingly, none of them took blame for the disaster.  Instead, each seemed to point fingers at each other for the cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

-  The Obama administration is already changing the way they plan to regulate offshore drilling.  The administration announced plans to split up the agency which regulates drilling.  Some have criticized how the Minerals Management Service enforces regulations while simultaneously collecting over $13 billion from oil companies for the right to drill offshore.  In the future the agency that collects revenue would be separate from the agency which implements and enforces regulations on safety.

-  British Petroleum is now lowering a second, smaller containment rig over the source of the largest leak.  The larger containment rig had to be removed after gas hydrates collected at the top.  The engineers hope the smaller rig will not experience the same problems.