NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The federal government has set up a security zone around the wreckage site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which lies on the sea floor about 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast after it exploded and sank in April, leading to the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Justice Department said Wednesday that the zone extends 750 feet in all directions from the rig and its debris field. Officials said the zone will be in place for at least a year and could be renewed. A U.S. District Court judge in New Orleans approved keeping the area off-limits.