in the air. >> reporter: 11 men were killed in the explosion on the deepwater horizon rig. a ball of fire lighting the night sky for months. >> it was surreal, something i've never seen before. >> reporter: a lingering problem was already beginning to seep through a mile beneath the water's surface. >> and we have people working 24 hours a day in four locations to both stop the flow, to actually fight this thing offshore, and protect the shoreline. >> reporter: slowly and deliberately, it began to bubble to the top. >> my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal. >> if it hits our marsh, five to ten years, i won't be fishing. and that's -- that's disastrous. >> reporter: two weeks after the leak began, the president made his first of four trips to the spill zone. >> and we will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage this costs. >> reporter: fishing waters along the coast were closed as