The blowout preventer that failed to prevent a blowout on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is at a NASA facility being examined as evidence in the forthcoming Gulf oil spill trial. The rig's owner, Transocean wants to "examine" it first.

The Obama administration yesterday said 3,500 abandoned Gulf oil wells must be plugged by the companies that abandoned them. But American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said, "This is not the time" to ask more of struggling oil companies.

BP has released its internal investigative report on the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and — spoiler! — it "deflects attention away from BP," pinning more responsibility on Transocean and Halliburton. Maybe that's true? Or maybe it's just standard corporate PR.

Good news from U.S. government scientists! The dumping of 771,000 gallons of controversial dispersants in the Gulf, like Corexit, worked and everything is cool now. Oil-eating microbes aren't using up oxygen or creating "dead zones," so let's move on.

Last night, the blowout preventer that failed to prevent the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, was retrieved and handed over to FBI investigators. Some documents suggest a dead battery in the device could be partially responsible for the leak.

While still drilling a relief well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has been adding up the total cost of its environmental catastrophe this summer. Of the $8 billion BP has spent so far, $399 million went to claims.

Another day, another "good" oil spill story. Once again, scientists say bacteria is eating oil, and the giant underwater plume is basically harmless (again!). This one should hold up until someone discovers glow-in-the dark sea turtles next week. [NPR]

The owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, Transocean, has accused BP of withholding information about the rig explosion on April 20. BP calls it a "publicity stunt" meant to deflect attention. Meanwhile, the mess both companies created is still there.

The man appointed to handle a $20 billion oil spill compensation fund from BP, Kenneth R. Feinberg, yesterday told spill claimants, "No more beating up on BP." He also promised that personal claims would be processed in 48 hours. [LAT]

Remember when the government said "there's absolutely no evidence" of "any significant concentration of oil" left in the Gulf of Mexico a couple of weeks ago? Surprise! There's a lot of oil left, and it's spreading along the ocean floor.

Apparently Barack Obama's not-sexy-enough photo of him swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, designed to show its safety for tourists, was not technically taken in the Gulf — just an inner bay, where all water is from the Gulf. Caught!

Tonight, Comedy Central aired its roast of David Hasselhoff. And while roasts are known for offensive humor, Lisa Lampanelli may have gone a bit far, with jokes about the holocaust, blacks, Roger Ebert's cancer, Haiti, the oil spill, and more.

[The First Family took a cruise in Panama City Beach, Florida this morning to help promote tourism in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Image via Getty]

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former oil lobbyist, thinks that oil remaining in the Gulf is a-okay, poison-wise. It's fine! Really. And if any water critters get smothered in it, well, toothpaste would have had the same effect.

Yesterday BP announced that the cement plug in the leaking Gulf oil well was a success, and that a relief well would be finished later this month. The company also said the spill has so far cost it $6.1 billion.

Now that BP's oil well is plugged, government scientists can start looking at what 1.8 million gallons of the chemical dispersant Corexit did to the environment, and seafood in the Gulf of Mexico. The FDA says don't sweat it!