Disasters

"A House energy panel is concerned that scientists hired to assess the oil spill may be muzzled. The company's research funding is also under scrutiny."

Bloomberg News is gamely standing by a story in which critics say it inaccurately interprets its own polling data -- to imply that most Americans oppose President Obama's temporary deepwater drilling ban.

"Now that the oil on the surface appears to be dissipating, the notion of a recovery from the spill, repeated by politicians, strikes some here as short-sighted. The gulf had been suffering for decades before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20."

"US spill chief Thad Allen failed Thursday to reassure desperate fishermen about their Gulf of Mexico oil clean-up jobs, while BP began the legal wrangling in a massive civil trial. As engineers prepared next week's vital operations to permanently kill the capped BP well, Allen met with parish presidents and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in New Orleans to discuss how to safeguard local jobs going forward."

"Partisan disagreements in the Senate will delay passage of legislation responding to the Gulf oil spill until at least September, when Congress returns from its summer recess."

One of the biggest oil spills in Midwest history seems to have been contained within a 25-mile reach of Michigan's Kalamazoo River. The oil has not reached Morrow Lake and its dam, which makes it unlikely to enter the 80-mile-long Kalamazoo River Superfund site between there and Lake Michigan.

"The Coast Guard has gathered evidence it failed to follow its own firefighting policy during the Deepwater Horizon disaster and is investigating whether the chaotic spraying of tons of salt water by private boats contributed to sinking the ill-fated oil rig, according to interviews and documents."

"Up to 4 million barrels (167 million gallons), the vast majority of the spill, remains unaccounted for in government statistics."