Cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, after an oil spill following an explosion at an oil rig called ‘Deepwater Horizon’ on April 20th, have taken on a new approach.

The U.S. Coast Guard along with BP, local residents and other federal agencies are conducting ‘in situ burns’ to aid in the spread of oil.

Plumes of smoke and bright orange flames could be seen Wednesday into Friday as the operation continued.

The Coast Guard says about 2.1 million gallons of an oil-water mix has been collected since a spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Recent cleanup effort using oil booms to collect the spill-oil then skim it from the water have had mixed results. BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles says the mix collected is about 10 percent oil and the rest water.

The Coast Guard said Saturday that nearly 190 vessels are involved in the overall cleanup efforts. More than 160 miles of boom to contain the oil has been put out and crews have used nearly 275,000 gallons of chemicals to break up the oil on the water's surface.

More than 4,500 people are responding and another 2,500 volunteers have been trained to help.

Deepwater Horizon exploded 50 miles off the Louisiana coast and sank two days later. Oil from the drill site has been spewing at about 200,000 gallons a day.

An Associated Press investigation shows cutoff valves like the one that failed to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster have repeatedly broken down at other wells in the years since federal regulators weakened testing requirements.

These steel monsters known as blowout preventers guard the mouth of wells and act as the last defense to choke off unintended releases.

While the precise causes of the April 20 explosion and spill remain unknown, investigators are focusing on the blowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP PLC as one likely contributor.

A detailed AP review of accident reports shows the devices have played a role in at least 14 accidents, mostly since 2005. And government and industry reports have questioned the reliability of blowout preventers for more than a decade.

 

-The Associated Press contributed to this report-

 

Enhanced content:

Photo's and video courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard, working in partnership with BP PLC, local residents, and other federal agencies, conduct 'in situ burn' to aid in preventing the spread of oil following the April 20 explosion on the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon. U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg.

 

Adam Shaw, a Louisiana oilfield diver assigned to the Premier Explorer, performs a surveillance mission during a controlled burn of the oil-covered waters in the Gulf of Mexico, May 7, 2010. The U.S. Coast Guard, working in partnership with BP PLC, local residents, and other federal agencies, is conducting the 'in situ burns' to aid in preventing the spread of oil following the April 20 explosion on the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jeffery Tilghman Williams.

VIDEO: Images from burning oil