METAIRIE, La. (AP) - A Coast Guard official tells The Associated Press that the 300-ton device that failed to stop the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill has not been analyzed a month after it was raised from the seafloor.

NASA says the blowout preventer is on shore and at its facility in New Orleans where officials are preserving it for testing.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Suzanne Kerver says that the analysis hasn't begun because officials are waiting for testing procedures to be approved.

The government told a federal judge in September that necessary equipment would be procured and sufficient space for the device would be constructed so the examination on the key piece of evidence could begin on Oct. 1.

The delay could prolong the work of a federal investigative panel looking into the spill.