Robot to survey Deepwater Horizon site

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NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said it approved of a survey of the site of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to investigate a possible source of leakage.

The Coast Guard, BP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worked to assess sheen observed in the Gulf of Mexico in late September. The Coast Guard said it was able to confirm the sheen was from the well that failed in 2010.

BP in mid-September said it confirmed that residual oil from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was pushed onshore by Hurricane Isaac, which hit the southern U.S. coast in late August.

The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans reports the Coast Guard approved of a plan by BP and rig-owner Transocean to send remotely operated underwater vehicle to the site of the incident to survey reports of sheen observed this month.

Following the September reports of sheen in the Gulf of Mexico, BP said it put a 750-pound cap over an opening in the so-called cofferdam, which was a failed attempt to seal the leak that resulted from an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010.

This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned BP from new federal contracts because of the company's "lack of business integrity."