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Deepwater Horizon
An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig kills 11 workers. Oil begins gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the blown-out well a mile below. -
Dauphin Island
The first tarballs wash ashore on Dauphin Island. -
Fresh BP effort to stop oil leak
A pelican covered in oil
Pelicans are among the wildlife harmed by the oil
Researchers who have analysed underwater video from the leak site estimate as many as 70,000 barrels of oil are leaking into the Gulf per day, with a margin of error of plus or minus 20%, significantly higher than earlier estimates. BP tries to thread a tube into the broken wellhead in an effort to collect some of the leaking oil in surface ships. Meanwhile, President Obama condemns the "ridiculous spectacle" of -
Setback in US oil containment bid
BP's effort to place a giant metal box atop the leaking well to contain the spill fails when ice crystals accumulate inside the box and engineers are forced to remove it. Meanwhile, officials revise the estimate of the leak's rate upward to 5,000 barrels per day. -
Coast Guard scales back
Coast Guard scales back its disaster response efforts in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, freeing BP from active cleanup of the oil spill.
