Ramon Antonia Vargas, a reporter at The Times-Picayune, rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. on April 21 to check the local news and came across the press release from the Coast Guard. The press release said the previous night an oil drilling rig, known as the MODU Deepwater Horizon, had exploded and caught fire at 10 p.m. in the Gulf of Mexico, about 45 miles southeast of Venice, La.

“It was about a minute after I had woken up and I had already made my first call to the Coast Guard,” said Vargas.

The chief mechanic of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig testified Wednesday that a BP official and a Deepwater rig manager were arguing on board the rig, just hours before the April 20 explosion.

Thick, brown oil continued to make its way along the Louisiana shore, touching southeast Louisiana parishes Wednesday, according to satellite and high altitude images.

Louisiana must continue to emphasize the safety and quality of seafood in its marketing initiatives in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at a town hall meeting Tuesday.