Following the extensive three-year cleanup effort, the U.S. Coast Guard is ending active cleanup operations in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The three states named are expected to complete the transition back to the National Response Center (NRC) reporting system by mid June 2013. The announcement is the result of the extraordinary progress made cleaning the Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Working under the direction of the Coast Guard, and in cooperation with state agencies and local governments, BP has spent more than $14 billion and 70 million personnel hours on response and cleanup activities. Due to the extensive cleanup effort, early restoration projects and natural recovery processes…