By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-922184.mp3
New Orleans, La. – It took 30 hours to raise the 300-ton device from the seafloor. Combustible ice-like crystals formed on its surface and it had to be bought up slowly. The blowout preventer is being taken to a NASA facility near New Orleans. It is subpoenaed as evidence in the Marine Board investigation being conducted by the Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The unit was designed to slam shut and prevent the type of explosion that killed 11 workers. The more than 4 million barrels of oil that spilled polluted the Gulf from Texas to Florida. Others interested in what's found from the examinations include the Justice Department's criminal division, as well as lawyers for families of the men killed in the explosion.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.