Gulf Oil Spill: Containment And Clean Up

Oobleck has some novel physical properties. When it's moved slowly, it acts smooth and runny, like a liquid. But move it quickly and forcefully, and it locks up, becoming almost solid. Jonathan Makiri/NPR hide caption

As the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burned last April, millions of barrels of oil were beginning to make their way out of the blown-out well underneath. U.S. Coast Guard/Getty Images hide caption

This image, from a video feed from a remote submarine, shows BP's Macondo well leaking natural gas on May 12, 2010. A new study concludes that the vast quantity of methane gas that spewed from the well in the Gulf of Mexico was rapidly eaten by bacteria. BP PLC/AP hide caption

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico last April. An excerpt of a presidential commission's probe into the rig explosion says risky decisions contributed to the disaster. Gerald Herbert/AP hide caption

Oysterman Mitch Jurisich steers a small boat around his family's oyster beds off the coast of Empire, La. He hasn't harvested many oysters since oil from the BP spill drifted into the area in June. Tamara Keith/NPR hide caption

Fred Bartlit Jr., chief investigator of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, at the public hearing in Washington, D.C., on Monday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

Boats battle a fire at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April. Eleven people were killed in the blast. U.S. Coast Guard/Getty Images hide caption

Waves breaking on the shore in Orange Beach, Ala., leave behind an oily residue. Mayor Tony Kennon expects BP to restore the town's beaches to sugar white condition. Debbie Elliott/NPR hide caption

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen testifies Monday before the commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Though Allen was the government's leader of the spill response, he acknowledged it was not always clear to the public who was in charge. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption

Bayou Bienvenue in New Orleans is an example of south Louisiana’s wetland loss. Fifty years ago, this was a productive freshwater marsh with cypress and tupelo trees. Today, stumps are all that remain, as saltwater has encroached inland. Debbie Elliot/NPR hide caption

A core sample from the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico shows a 2-inch layer of oily material. Researchers are finding oil on the seafloor miles away from the blown-out BP well.  Though researchers have yet to chemically link the oil deposits to the BP well, "the sheer coverage here is leading us all to come to the conclusion that it has to be sedimented oil from the oil spill because it's all over the place," says one scientist. Courtesy of Samantha Joye hide caption