BP said the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was removed late last week from the company’s well. The process of raising it to the surface was to be painstaking because engineers want to make sure not to damage or drop the contraption. The blowout preventer wasn’t expected to reach the surface until the weekend. Government investigators will take possession of it. The device was 50 feet long and weighed 300 tons. The blowout preventer is considered a key piece of evidence in the spill investigation. Investigator will examine it and hope to gain insight into why the device failed to prevent the spill. The April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP’s well.