FILE - In this June 15, 2010 file photo by Gerald Herbert, a member of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's staff wearing a glove reaches into the thick oil on the surface of the northern regions of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La. With the well still gushing, BP and the various government agencies involved were jousting over just how much oil was leaking and how much had reached shore. Journalists routinely ran into resistance from cleanup contractors telling them to stay away from oiled areas, and were taken on BP-organized tours that showed relatively little damage, Herbert recalled. "The parish and the state authorities were doing their best to get journalists out there on the coast to see how things were being affected," he said. By mid-June, Herbert had been documenting the disaster for nearly two months. The oil-soaked coastline smelled powerfully like tar or asphalt in the Louisiana heat. Rather than get tired of the assignment, Herbert _ a New Orleans native _ felt compelled to keep showing the spill's ongoing effects. "The more you did this, the more disgusted you were. It got to be more and more depressing as time went on." (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Featured Photo Galleries
