oil slick

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Atlantic Oil Spill Coats Endangered Penguins

Nightingale Island surrounded by giant crude slick

(Newser) - An oil spill has covered thousands of endangered penguins in crude after a cargo ship ran aground on an island in the South Atlantic, the AP reports. The MS Olivia of Malta broke into two pieces after it hit Nightingale Island in the Tristan da Cunha chain. Its 1,650...

Louisiana Protesters Lash BP, Feds

Oil company weighs yet another spill strategy

(Newser) - Protesters took to the streets of New Orleans yesterday as BP weighed yet another strategy to plug the 6-week-old oil spill after the crushing failure of the "top kill" approach . "The federal government's inaction is horrible," a protester told the Times-Picayune . "We didn't know it was...

'Hairlift' Donations Help Fight Oil Slick

Salons, groomers donate hair, fur for booms

(Newser) - The biggest "hairlift" in history is helping fight the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Donations of hair, fur, and wool are being gathered by salons, pet groomers, and farmers around the world to be stuffed into nylon tights, creating highly absorbent booms. Matter of Trust, the charity organizing the...

Team Mulls 'Trash Plug' for Oil Leak

'Junk shot' would be blasted into contraption

(Newser) - The team that failed to cap the Gulf oil well with a dome may next try to plug the gusher with trash. The so-called "junk shot" would be used to aid the "blowout preventer" contraption that now sits near the leaker, but hasn't worked to prevent the spill...

BP Spill Plan Bore No Resemblance to Reality

Critics blast company's preparedness

(Newser) - As BP struggles to fix its oil containment dome, many in Washington and the oil industry say the company's botched handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows it failed to prepare for a major disaster—and comparing its spill plan to the reality of the current situation seems...

Dome Reaches Floor of Gulf
 Dome Reaches Floor of Gulf 

Dome Reaches Floor of Gulf

BP crews start efforts to fit cap over broken well

(Newser) - Robots and technicians have successfully placed a containment dome on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, 5,000 feet below the surface. BP teams are now attempting to fit the dome, which they started maneuvering last night , over the Deepwater Horizon well that has been gushing 5,000 barrels...

Gulf Slick Hits Wildlife Refuge

Oily birds found in Lousiania's Chandeleur Islands

(Newser) - Oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico slick has begun washing ashore in a wildlife preserve off the coast of Louisiana. Officials say there is "oiling all over" the uninhabited Chandeleur islands, the BBC reports. The island chain is home to large numbers of endangered birds. Pelicans and gannets...

Dead Turtles Washing Up Near Gulf Spill

Experts suspect slick is to blame

(Newser) - Dozens of dead sea turtles have washed up along the Mississippi coast over the last couple of days and wildlife officials fear the endangered creatures are among the oil spill's first victims. Necropsies on 5 of the turtles have so far turned up no evidence of oil contamination, although experts,...

Gulf Oil Spill Reaches Land
 Gulf Oil Spill Reaches Land 

Gulf Oil Spill Reaches Land

Spill could become worst US environmental disaster in decades

(Newser) - Crews scrambled to protect wetlands and fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp as oil began to wash ashore on the Gulf Coast last night. Officials warn that the spill from a BP rig—which is five times bigger than had been believed—could be America's worst environmental disaster in decades....

Oil Spill 5 Times Worse Than Thought

New leak found at Gulf oil rig explosion site

(Newser) - A new leak has been discovered at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at 5 times earlier estimates, according to the Coast Guard. Some 5,000 barrels of oil a day are now believed to be pouring into...

Feds May Torch Gulf Oil Slick
 Feds May Torch Gulf Oil Slick 

Feds May Torch Gulf Oil Slick

Controlled burn could start today

(Newser) - The Coast Guard is considering setting the gigantic oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico ablaze as it approaches land. A controlled burn to burn off the oil could happen as soon as today if winds keep pushing the Rhode Island-sized slick toward ecologically sensitive areas of the Mississippi Delta,...

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