How is BP's gulf cleaning coming along?

[Munch]

I just saw a commercial paid for by BP of a local business whose rental business took a gigantic hit, giving a pretty solid testimonial of how well BP has done right by them (with a disclaimer that the owners were not compensated for their appearance).

It was a nice spot, but I was wondering how they’re actually doing. Is there a watchdog group that is keeping track of everything?

[SanibelMan]

Here’s an update from the University of South Florida:

TAMPA, Fla. (Mar. 1, 2011) – Many beaches in Florida’s Panhandle and in parts of Alabama hit hard by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill appear to have been thoroughly cleared of visible tar balls and layers of buried oil beneath the sand, but residual oil contamination can still be detected under UV lights, says a new report from USF’s Coastal Research Lab.

In his most recent survey of the area’s beaches for a National Science Foundation project, USF Geologist Ping Wang found little to no visible tar balls on the surface, below the sand or in the swash zone – where waves wash up onto the beach and typically deposit seaweed and debris – in areas surveyed from Panama City Beach west to Dauphin Island, Ala.