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AP wins Polk Award for Gulf oil spill coverage In May 2010, The Associated Press deployed more than 50 reporters, photographers and videographers to the scene of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. They supplemented nearly two dozen local AP journalists who have a deep understanding of the people, economics and environment of the affected states they live in and cover. In addition, another 200 journalists contributed to AP’s reporting, from Alaska to Washington, D.C., and Havana to the Philippines.
The coverage has ranged from a team dedicated to reporting the environmental impact of the spill to a group of investigative journalists digging into the legal, business and policy aspects of the disaster.
“The Associated Press is committed to providing the breaking and in-depth news, in every format, that Americans and others need to stay informed about this unprecedented disaster and to understand its impact,” said AP President Tom Curley. “It is a story without an end in sight, and we will follow it.”
Sample some of the work of our journalists.
Caption: Shrimpers haul in their catch in Bastian Bay, near Empire, La., on the first day of shrimping season since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
After AP story, gov't orders companies to plug nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells in Gulf
Following an AP report on abandoned oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration says that oil and gas companies will have to plug nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells and dismantle about 650 unused production platforms. The AP investigation, published in July, discovered that there are more than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in the gulf, with no one checking to see if they are leaking.
Gerald Herbert narrates 'Gulf's healing process' on “PBS NewsHour”
AP photographer Gerald Herbert has been documenting the Gulf oil spill since April. In June, PBS NewsHour ran a photo essay of Herbert's work, along with his comments. Herbert returns to NewsHour to discuss the spill's ecological, human and economic effects, three months after his initial visit. "I think people look at the oil spill as done, but the far-reaching effects ... still remain to be seen," Herbert says in the segment, "Slideshow: The Gulf's Healing Process."
Harry Weber discusses BP internal report on rig explosion and Gulf oil spill
AP Gulf Oil Industry Reporter Harry Weber discusses in detail a released internal report in which BP blames itself and other companies for the failures that led to the drilling rig explosion and Gulf oil spill. BP didn't have one "smoking gun" in the 193-page report, Weber says. "There's been a lot of 'blame game' going on," he says.
Gulf oil well is dead but the pain will remain
The well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is finally dead, but residents will be feeling the pain for years to come. There is still plenty of oil in the water, and some continues to wash up on shore. Many people are still struggling to make ends meet with some waters still closed to fishing. Shrimpers who are allowed to fish are finding it difficult to sell their catch because of the perception _ largely from people outside the region _ that the seafood is not safe to eat. Tourism along the Gulf has also taken a hit.
AP ENTERPRISE: Oil cleanup both bonanza and bust
The worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history has spurred something of an economic boom in some communities where cleanup operations are based, an AP analysis has shown. But BP's oil spill has delivered a double whammy to areas too far away from the cleanup to serve as a staging ground for masses of workers, but close enough to experience severe losses in tourism, fishing and drilling.
Caption: Convenience store owner Sharon Couture stocks cases of beer in Sharon's Discount Store in Yscloskey, La., Aug. 26, 2010. Couture's business, which served local commercial and recreational fishermen before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, has remained mostly intact thanks to contract workers from nearby spill response bases. But she worries about the future, when the spill workers pack up and the fishermen go back to their businesses, convincing consumers that their products are safe to eat. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Major study proves oil plume not going away
The oil is there, at least 22 miles of it. You just can't see it. A lot
of the crude that spewed from BP's ruptured well is still in the Gulf of Mexico, but it's far below the surface and invisible. And it's likely to linger for months on end, scientists say in the first conclusive evidence of an underwater plume of oil from the disaster.
AP VIDEO: Hope at the start of shrimp season
The drilling of a relief well aimed at permanently plugging the runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico is nearly complete, as fishermen in coastal Louisiana begin their annual shrimping season. It’s the first season since the oil gusher began.
Caption: Deckhand James Paul, scoops shrimp to sort from the fish on the trawler “Rolling Thunder” in Bastian Bay, near Empire, La., on the first day of shrimping season since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
La. shrimpers report clean 1st day catch
Commercial shrimpers out for the first season since BP's disastrous spill tell AP their catch is plentiful and free of oil, despite a report by scientists that much of the crude remains below the surface of the Gulf. AP rides along as fishermen who spent much of the summer mopping up oil get back to work. The fall shrimping season in Louisiana's coastal waters opened amid anxiety over whether the catch will be tainted by crude and whether anyone will buy it even if it is clean.
CHILDREN AND THE GULF OIL SPILL
A third of children along the most impacted area of the Gulf Coast have behavioral problems, act depressed or nervous, and have trouble sleeping and getting along with others, a Children’s Health Fund survey of more than 1,200 parents shows. AP looks at some of the affected children and how they’re coping with events that are difficult even for adults to understand.
Caption: In this Aug. 5, 2010 picture, Austin Verdin, 11, stands with a fishing pole in hand near a boat sitting on blocks in his family's front yard in Galliano, La. Austin's father was working as a fisherman until local waters were closed because of the oil spill. He fell back on his commercial driver's license and took a job with a trucking firm, which keeps him away from home more often. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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Oil spill stress for children as budgets shrink, parents face tough decisions
Nine-year-old Zack Wilkerson spent a good chunk of his summer on the computer watching video of undersea robots try to fix the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil that spewed into the Gulf about 100 miles from his Galliano, La., home kept him from going fishing with his dad or to the beach with his family. As he prepares to start fifth grade, he wonders if some of his friends will be gone, their parents leaving the small towns on Bayou Lafourche because the fishing and tourism jobs are gone.
Well capping brings relief but fear of abandonment
With BP cautiously declaring its "static kill" a success in plugging the once-runaway well, and the Obama administration's claims that crews and nature had taken care of all but a quarter of the estimated 207 million gallons of crude that have poured from the blowout, Gulf Coast residents can already feel the nation's gaze turning away. AP talks to people who still remember promises left unkept following Hurricane Katrina.
Underwater crime scene: Spill investigators want to find undersea evidence
Now that BP appears to have vanquished its ruptured well, authorities are turning their attention to gathering evidence from what could amount to a crime scene at the bottom of the sea. The wreckage - including the failed blowout preventer and the blackened, twisted remnants of the drilling platform - may be Exhibit A in the effort to establish who is responsible for the biggest peacetime oil spill in history.
Media Scrutinize Spill Report—Day Two coverage quotes wider array of scientists: http://bit.ly/9S5NPS
100 DAYS OF OIL
The 100 days since the April 20 explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon have been a gut-wrenching time for folks who work, play and live along the Gulf Coast. The Gulf is a sanctuary for some, an employer for others, and now, a tragedy. AP relays their stories.
"We're hoping that it's not 100 years." One hundred days ago, the explosion aboard a rig in the Gulf of Mexico brought fishing and tourism industries to a near standstill. In this AP Video, many fishermen say it's just another day on the calendar.
By the Numbers: From gallons to dollars, the numbers involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are staggering. In this AP Video, a sampling of the figures, 100 days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
The plight of wildlife in the spillB irds and sea life have been some of the most visible casualties of the oil spill. In this AP Interactive, also track its effects on the Gulf Coast, look at some of the worst oil spills in the world in the last 20 years, and view a panorama of the oil slick.
Many images by AP photographers are in The Huffington Post’s extensive slideshow, Gulf Oil Spill 100 Days Later: The Most Dramatic Photos
Caption: Roy Campo, left, and the crew of fishermen continue to sort a load of blue crabs after hearing about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill being capped in Hopedale, La., Thursday, July 15, 2010. BP finally choked off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday — 85 days and up to 184 million gallons after the crisis unfolded — then began a tense 48 hours of watching to see whether the capped-off well would hold or blow a new leak (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
AP Video: First Person: Turtle Eggs Saved from Oil Hatch
Watch as scientists release the first group of sea turtles, part of a sweeping effort to save threatened and endangered hatchlings, into the Atlantic Ocean. The overall plan is to pluck some 70,000 eggs from nests on beaches across Alabama and Florida before they hatch and likely die in the oily Gulf of Mexico.
AP's New Orleans news editor in Poynter Online live chat on covering the oil spill
News Editor Brian Schwaner and three other panelists talk about their focus so far, the most important issues going forward, and what news consumers should pay attention to.
AP reporter: Seeing the oil flow stop “emotional”
AP's Harry Weber has been covering the Gulf oil spill almost since the leak started. In this video, he describes the moment when he first realized the geyser was under control.
Gulf lament: Everything's different now
Days filled with hard work but equally hard play – it’s the "way of life" so many on the Gulf Coast speak of fervently. Now that "way" is a study in sacrifice and survival. Long days making money while you can. Treasured moments missed. It is living day-to-day with the uncertainty of not knowing what next week, next month or even next year will bring. AP talks to people whose lives are forever changed by the spill.
AP Interactive: How much is 125 million gallons of oil?
Slightly less than half the Empire State Building or one-seventh of the Superdome in New Orleans. Get more perspective from AP’s interactive graphic. More>>
AP journalist dives iinto Gulf of Mexico: quiet ,scary and 'only thing I see is oil'
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AP Radio News covers the spill
Listen to Jon Belmont's newscast after the deadly explosion of the rig Deepwater Horizon and Rich Matthews' description of a "large, red oil slick" off Venice, La., his gathering of residents' reaction after President Obama visits Grand Isle, La., and his account of oil washing up at Gulf Shores, Ala. Jerry Bodlander reports from Capitol Hill as BP officials testify. Tony Winton watches residents pick up tar balls in Key West, Fla. Mark Smith reports on Obama's visit to Pensacola Bay, Fla. Warren Levinson interviews a shrimper who fears he'll lose his livelihood. Charlie Riedel describes his "Birds of the Gulf" photos. Matthews recounts his dive into the murky water.
Listen to the coverage
Charlie Riedel's photos of birds in Gulf oil spill 'iconic'
Associated Press photographer Charlie Riedel's distubing images of birds mired in oil are "the faces that government officials and oil executives may see in their nightmares," David W. Dunlap wrote in The New York Times "Lens" blog, one of several outlets praising Riedel's work as instantly iconic.More>>
Gerald Herbert's pictures of oil in Gulf of Mexico get wide play
Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert has covered the explosion from the Deepwater Horizon rig and the subsequent oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico. Media outlets across the world have used his work. They also have interviewed him as someone who's been there from the beginning... More>>
AP IMPACT: Many Gulf federal judges have oil links
More than half the federal judges in districts where the bulk of Gulf oil spill-related lawsuits are pending have financial links to the oil and gas industry, complicating the task of finding judges without conflicts to hear the cases, an AP analysis of 150-plus lawsuits shows.
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APNewsBreak: New, giant sea oil plume seen in Gulf
AP broke the story that university researchers discovered a second plume of oil in the Gulf of Mexico _ several miles wide, 22 miles long and 3,000 feet deep.
More>>
AP IMPACT: Bad cement jobs plague offshore rigs
The tricky process of sealing an offshore oil well with cement, suspected as a major contributor to the Gulf of Mexico disaster, has failed dozens of times in the past, according to an AP investigation.
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FIRST LOOK: Video of oil’s impact on Breton Wildlife Refuge
AP had an exclusive first look at the oil’s impact on the Breton Wildlife Refuge. Our journalists joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a tour and documented the effects on delicate wildlife, including a brown pelican seen walking and swimming in visible patches of oil.
AP IMPACT: Federal inspections on rig not as claimed
An AP investigation finds that federal inspectors did not visit offshore oil rigs like the fallen Deepwater Horizon as often as they claimed. Officials had said inspectors were there at least once a month, but AP found that, in fact, they have missed one of every four months over the past five-plus years.More>>
AP’s exclusive ridealong on a mission to cap the oil leak
AP had an exclusive front-row seat on the Joe Griffin, a ship that traveled to the site of the BP oil rig explosion, as it carried a vessel designed to contain the oil and siphon it to a tanker on the surface. For seven days, AP’s Harry Weber and Gerald Herbert were the only media within sight of the well.Follow Weber on Facebook
AP Interactive: Largest oil spill in U.S. history
Track the oil slick, look at ways to stop oil leaks, consider possible causes and ways to clean up the oil in this AP Interactive.
AP Interactive: Ecological impact
Click on the map to see the oil’s impact on the environment in that region. Run through a timeline of the of the world’s worst oil spills in the last 20 years in this AP Interactive.
AP INVESTIGATION: Blowout preventers known to fail
The valve meant to prevent a blowout like the one that caused the Deepwater Horizon disaster had a history of failure, according to an AP Investigation. The device played a role in at least 14 accidents since 2005, reports show.More>>
AP is there as first waves of oil reach the Mississippi River Delta
AP journalists aren’t content to hear the news; they want to see it. As the massive oil spill reaches the Louisiana coast, an AP crew goes out on a boat to capture the moment. Meanwhile, reporters and TV crews from around the country wait on shore at a command center where the Coast Guard, British Petroleum and the government hold briefings.
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If you would like to pursue the story further, contact our director of media relations, Paul Colford, at 212.621.1720 or pcolford@ap.org |
