Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DOJ) filed papers in federal court in New Orleans blaming BP for the Gulf oil spill, describing the spill as an example of "gross negligence and willful misconduct." In their statement the DOJ said that some of BP's arguments were "plainly misleading" and that the court should ignore BP's argument that the Gulf region is "undergoing a robust recovery". BP rejected the charges saying "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January." The DOJ also said Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, was guilty
Volume and extent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill silts and sands onshore. On 26 May 2011, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality extended the state of emergency related to the spill. In April 2012, oil was found dotting of Louisiana's coast. As of December 2012, of coastline remain subject to evaluation and/or cleanup operations. On 15 May 2010, researchers from the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology, aboard the research vessel "RV Pelican", identified oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as long, wide and thick in spots. The shallowest oil plume the group detected was at about ,