Gulf Oil Disaster - Photos

The Associated Press has assembled "haunting" images from the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s been more than a month since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and blew out an undersea well that continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the following weeks, there have been attempts to contain and control the scope of the environmental damage.

But so far none have been successful. Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced he intended to proceed with plans to construct sand booms to protect his state's shoreline — without waiting for federal approval. Meanwhile, engineers for BP are working feverishly to prepare for their "top kill" maneuver, hoping an injection of heavy mud will stop the leak.

Dead sharks and dolphins are washing ashore. Crabs, turtles and birds are being found soaked in oil as the slick sloshes into Louisiana’s wetlands. South of New Orleans, chocolate-like globs of oil have shut down the public beach.

Coast Guard officials say the spill’s impact now stretches 150 miles.

What is Obama doing to manage the disaster, other than finger-pointing?

Pressure is mounting for Obama to do more.

The Obama administration's environmental chief dipped a small cup into the oily mess at the mouth of the Mississippi and was surprised by what came out.

"Oh my God — it's so thick!" exclaimed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson who toured delicate coastal wetlands that have been invaded by the black and orange crude.

She was one of several top administration officials in the Gulf Coast this week as the White House is facing increasing questions about why the government can't assert more control over the handling a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which unfolded after a BP offshore drilling rig blew up April 20.

The administration's point man on the spill rejected the notion of removing BP and taking over the crisis Monday, saying the government has neither the company's expertise nor its deep-sea equipment.

"To push BP out of the way would raise a question, to replace them with what?" Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, who is heading the federal response to the spill, said at a White House briefing.

...Interior Secretary Ken Salazar suggested over the weekend that the government could intervene aggressively if BP wasn't delivering. "If we find that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately," he said.

But asked about that comment Monday, Allen said: "That's more of a metaphor."

Allen said BP and the government are working together, with the government holding veto power and adopting an "inquisitorial" stand toward the company's ideas.

Environmentalists must feel betrayed by Obama's response. He's playing politics, not wanting to get too involved, fearing that being associated with the disaster will hurt him politically.

It's cowardly.


View the photos.

More photos of the disaster in the Gulf.