AP wins Polk Award for Gulf oil spill coverage

The Associated Press staff has won the George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting for its “colossal effort” covering the worst oil spill in U.S. history, said Long Island University, which oversees the awards.

The AP was the first news organization to report the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that caused the 206-million-gallon (780-million liter) spill in the Gulf of Mexico. AP’s investigative reporters revealed gaps in oversight of 27,000 abandoned Gulf wells. At every juncture, the AP was the prime source for news of the disaster.

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