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Gulf oil spill cleanup: A look back The worst maritime oil spill in history occurred in 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. As the high-stakes BP trial kicks off, here’s a look back at cleanup efforts in the spill’s aftermath.
April 21, 2010
This U.S. Coast Guard image shows fire boat response crews as they battle the blazing remnants of the BP operated offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico. The worst maritime oil spill in history began with a drop in pressure in a poorly drilled well deep.
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AFP/Getty Images
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July 1, 2010
Oil cleanup workers remove residue that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in Gulfport, Miss.
Joe Raedle
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Getty Images
July 3, 2010
An earthen barrier and containment boom are part of the effort to keep the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from reaching the land near Grand Isle, La.
Joe Raedle
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Getty Images
July 28, 2010
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar touches the blowout-preventer control panel as he asks safety questions in the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana.
Gerald Herbert
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AP
Nov. 9, 2010
A bird searches for food in the surf in Orange Beach, Ala. With few visitors on the coast during the off season, BP launched its biggest push yet to deep-clean the tourist beaches that were coated with crude.
Dave Martin
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AP
March 3, 2011
Workers clean oil left over from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico at Perdido Key State Park in Pensacola, Fla. Crews continued to work to remove leftover oil from beaches along the Gulf Coast.
Eric Thayer
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Getty Images
March 10, 2011
Workers clean up oil along Pensacola Beach, Fla.
Eric Thayer
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Getty Images
March 28, 2011
Fishermen and members of the community listen to Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the BP claims fund, speak at a public meeting in Mathews, La.
Julia Rendleman
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AP
April 1, 2011
Tulane University population ecologist Jessica Henkel sets up a net to catch migrating birds. She will test blood, fecal and feather samples on Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., as part of a research project looking for long-term effects from the BP oil spill on birds that stop along the Gulf Coast during their migration.
Patrick Semansky
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AP
April 7, 2011
Fly fishing guide Mark Brockhoeft poles his boat on a waterway to avoid scaring fish with the sound of his boat's engine in Plaquemines Parish, La. While oil never made it to inland marshes, Brockhoeft's bookings are down from years past, which he blames on misperceptions of the spill's reach.
Patrick Semansky
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AP
April 10, 2011
Workers clean a section of shoreline heavily damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the mouth of the Mississippi River where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.
Gerald Herbert
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AP
April 10, 2011
A supply vessel floats beside a rig in Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana.
Gerald Herbert
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AP
April 13, 2011
The sun sets beyond the beach as waves wash up from the Gulf of Mexico in Grand Isle, La. Oil from the BP spill washed up on this beach in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that killed 11 crew members. An estimated 206 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico until the well was finally sealed.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
April 13, 2011
A sand berm built to capture oil from the BP spill is seen at an oil cleanup site in Barataria Bay, La. The bay and its fragile wetlands were among the hardest hit areas in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
April 13, 2011
A man walks past waves as they wash up from the Gulf of Mexico onto the beach in Isla Grand Terre, La. Residents report that oil still washes up onto the beach after storms.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
April 13, 2011
A sand berm built to capture oil from the BP spill is seen at a cleanup site in Barataria Bay, La.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
April 13, 2011
A boat trawls for white shrimp just off the coast of Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La. with a an oil rig seen in the background.
Dave Martin
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AP
April 13, 2011
Forrest Travirca, foreground, land warden for Wisner Properties, and Wisner Foundation executive Cathy Norman, background center, examine the oil-stained sand at Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La.
Dave Martin
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AP
April 13, 2011
Forrest Travirca, center, land warden for Wisner Properties, and Wisner Foundation Executive Cathy Norman, left, examine the remains of a dead dolphin at Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La.
Dave Martin
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AP
April 14, 2011
A dead sea turtle is carried out of the surf by Donald Tillman in Waveland, Miss. Local turtle activists Donald and Shirley Tillman say they have discovered 19 dead sea turtles in Mississippi in the month of April alone.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
April 14, 2011
A dying sea gull is seen washed onto shore in Waveland, Miss. Animals are still washing up on beaches in high numbers in Mississippi, which continues to be impacted by tar balls and weathered oil.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
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