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As the Gulf oil spill continues to spread and become a growing concern to more parts of the US, these key tools will help you tell and illustrate the story.

The National Trails system, already stretching more than 12,500 miles, expands with the addition of 31 more trails totalling 716 miles.

Deepwater Horizon explosion survivors were detained at sea for 36 to 40 hours and prevented from talking to families or going home until they signed two statements, one that they'd not been injured and the other that they'd not witnessed the explosion.

Workers in the "Vessels of Opportunity" Gulf spill cleanup program had to sign a contract prohibiting them from talking to the news media or disclosing "proprietary and confidential" information.

Anne Womack Kolton, who as former VP Dick Cheney's press aide defended the secrecy of his energy task force, has been brought in to fix BP's PR problems in the Gulf oil spill.

Dispersant manufacturer Nalco failed to disclose the chemical identity of the ingredients to the news media or public, and ignored a US EPA order to stop using the product in the Gulf.

US EPA withheld information, and twice during the five-day operation BP cut off the mud pumps for long periods without letting the public know, making statements that left the impression the operation was ongoing.

The WatchDog's special Gulf oil spill issue includes stories on media access problems, withholding of information by US EPA and misleading statements by BP, mystery dispersant ingredients, BP's new ex-Cheney spokesperson, prohibiting cleanup workers talking to media, and detaining rig survivors till they sign two statements.