"NEW ORLEANS -- BP's cement contractor on the Deepwater Horizon rig has discovered cement samples possibly tied to the ill-fated drilling project that weren't turned over to the Justice Department after the 2010 oil spill, a lawyer for the contractor said Thursday."

"Halliburton lawyer Donald Godwin told U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier that the company believes the material found Wednesday at its laboratory in Lafayette has no bearing on the ongoing trial to assign responsibility for the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

But a plaintiffs' attorney, Jeffrey Breit, countered that the samples are cement a Halliburton employee used for testing of BP PLC's Macondo well before the disaster."

Michael Kunzelman reports for the Associated Press March 14, 2013. [2]