Updated: Key oil spill evidence raised to Gulf's surface

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Source: Associated Press

A crane hoisted a key piece of oil spill evidence to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, giving investigators their first chance to personally scrutinize the blowout preventer, the massive piece of equipment that failed stop the gusher four months ago.

It took 29 1/2 hours to lift the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from a mile beneath the sea to the surface. The five-story high device breached the water's surface at 6:54 p.m. CDT, and looked largely intact with black stains on the yellow metal.

FBI agents were among the 137 people aboard the Helix Q4000 vessel, taking photos and video of the device. They will escort it back to a NASA facility in Louisiana for analysis.

The AP was the only news outlet with a print reporter and photographer on board the ship.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100905/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

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BP blowout preventer raised to surface
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39005773/ns/us_news-environment/

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[liberal N proud]

1. Let the prosecutions begin

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2. BP blowout preventer brought aboard vessel

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39005773/ns/us_news-environment/

A crane hoisted a key piece of oil spill evidence from the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, giving investigators their first chance to personally scrutinize the blowout preventer, the massive piece of equipment that failed to stop the gusher four months ago.

It took 29½ hours to lift the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from a mile beneath the sea to the surface. The five-story high device breached the water's surface at 6:54 p.m. CDT, and looked largely intact with black stains on the yellow metal.