"Petrochemical giant BP didn't file a plan to specifically handle a major oil spill from an uncontrolled blowout at its Deepwater Horizon project because the federal agency that regulates offshore rigs changed its rules two years ago to exempt certain projects in the central Gulf region, according to an Associated Press review of official records."

"Orange-colored oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has washed up on the western side of North Island, the northernmost sliver of the Chandeleur and Breton Island chain, and officials with BP and federal and state agency say they have drafted a strategy to begin cleaning it up."

"A federal judge ordered a documentary filmmaker Thursday to turn over about 600 hours of raw footage from a film about a court fight over whether Chevron Corp. owes billions of dollars in damages for oil contamination in Ecuador."

"As the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill raises questions about the safety of offshore drilling, the Interior Department has indefinitely suspended plans for an oil and gas lease sale off the Virginia coastline."

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission ... voted to begin writing a rule to allow manufacturers, big and small, to essentially break the required testing process for lead, lead paint and other potential dangers into parts."

"U.S. emissions of the main greenhouse gas from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas fell a record 7 percent in 2009 due to the recession and more efficient use of fuels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday."

NOAA scientists say recently observed sea turtle strandings along the Gulf Coast are not related to the oil spill there, although NOAA is planning to help oiled sea turtles.

The Labor Department and the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to do a better job of protecting the 300,000 to 400,000 child farmworkers from threats including pesticide exposure, after a stinging new report from Human Rights Watch.

"The true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated," says the President's Cancer Panel in a strongly reported report that urges action to reduce people's widespread exposure to carcinogens."

Engineers begin today maneuvering into place a huge containment dome in hopes of stopping the spread of the oil slick from the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico.