Nightly News   |  April 18, 2011

What lies beneath: Oil still lurks under surface

On the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill, NBC's Anne Thompson takes a look at fresh evidence that despite the cleanup efforts, there is still plenty of oil beneath the surface.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> few moments. i thought we'd talk to anne thompson our chief environmentalcorrespo ndent. you could have had your mail delivered down here you were so much in 2010 . can you still see the oil? can you find the oil a year later?

>> if you know where to look, yes. we were down where i stuck a shovel into the marsh, and just the turned over a shovel full of the muck, and there was the oil underneath. it's still here. it's not out in the ocean or big rivers, but it's still here.

>> every time you stir it it up, rev the prop on a boat, whatever, it's right there underneath the surface. creates plumes and gets it upset all over again. speaking of all over again, what's the potential, god forbid , a thousand times that we're looking at another disaster offshore?

>> experts stay it could happen. the government imposed new safety regulations , but you can't eliminate it. getting oil from deep water is a dangerous business, and it's a risky business . you can reduce the risk, but ut can't get rid of it it altogether. it's the price we pay for getting oil out of the water.

>> anne thompson , one of the heros of our coverage of the spill this past year.