WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday that cleanup teams are responding to a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida.
The spill, which is ongoing, appears to come from an underwater source in a marine drilling lease about three miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The reported location is near the site where there is a mile-long brown and black oil slick visible in the first published aerial photos Wednesday by The Associated Press.
So far, the growing spill appears to have remained at sea and has not affected the Louisiana coast. There is still no estimate of how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images reviewed by AP on Saturday appear to show the tide drifting more than a dozen miles (more than 19 kilometers) towards to the east along the Gulf Coast.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Edwards said the source of the pollution is in Bay Marchand, in Block 4, and is believed to be the crude of a Talos Energy-owned submarine pipeline.
Brian L. Grove, a spokesman for the Houston-based energy company, said he had hired Clean Gulf Associates to respond to the spill, though the company believes it is not responsible for oil in the water.
Clean Gulf Associates, a non-profit oil spill response cooperative working with the energy exploration and production industry, responded to the scene Wednesday. Its workers have placed a containment boom in the area to mitigate the spread of oil. The company’s boats also run on skimmers that can extract oil from the water, although the Coast Guard said so far only about 160 liters had been removed.
Talos is investigating the cause of the leak, but a statement provided by Grove said field observations indicate that the company’s assets are not the source. Talos previously rented Bay Marchand, block 5, but left production there in 2017, plugged the wells and removed all pipeline infrastructure in 2019, according to the company.
Talos said two 29-foot response vessels had been sent to the scene to conduct oil recovery operations. A lift boat equipped for diving operations has also been mobilized and is expected to arrive on Saturday to help determine the source of the spill.
“The stalks will continue to work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and other state and federal agencies to identify the source of the release and coordinate a successful response,” the company statement said. “The company’s top priorities are the safety of all staff and the protection of the public and the environment.”
The Bay Marchand spill is one of dozens of reported environmental hazards that state and federal regulators are responding to in Louisiana and the Gulf after the Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Port Fourchon on Sunday. The region is a major center of production for the American petrochemical industry.
The AP also reported on Wednesday for the first time images from a national atmospheric and ocean survey showing extensive flooding and what appeared to be oil in the water of the extensive Phillips 66 Alliance refinery located along the Mississippi River in south of New Orleans.
After AP released the photos, the Environmental Protection Agency commissioned a specially equipped research aircraft to fly over the refinery on Thursday, as well as other industrial sites in the area hardest hit by the wind and storm surge in the region. hurricane (240 mph).
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said a state assessment team sent to the Alliance refinery observed that a heavy oil spill with feathers and absorbent pads was being addressed. A dike had been broken in to protect the plant, allowing water to flood during the storm and come out again as the tide receded.
State environmental officials said there is still no estimate available as to how much oil could have been spilled from the refinery.
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