Hurricane Ida: Cleanup boats look to check large oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
Oil rigs are seen in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, in Grand Isle, Louisiana, US.
Following Hurricane Ida, cleanup crews are making concerted efforts to respond to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard said on Saturday.
The ongoing spill appears to be coming from a underwater source at an offshore drilling lease, which is about three kilometers (two miles) south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.
So far, the growing spill appears to have remained out to sea and has not impacted the Louisiana shoreline.
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The officials have not yet been able to estimate for how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images show the slick drifting more than 19 kilometers (more than a dozen miles) eastwards along the Gulf coast.
The source of the pollution is located in Bay Marchand, Block 4, and is believed to be crude oil from an undersea pipeline owned by Talos Energy, saidCoast Guard spokesman LtJohn Edwards.
Brian L Grove, spokesman, Houston-based energy company, said it had hired Clean Gulf Associates to respond to the spill even though the company believes it is not responsible for the oil in the water.
Clean Gulf Associates is a nonprofit oil-spill response cooperative, which works with the energy exploration and production industry, responded to the scene on Wednesday. Its workers have placed a containment boom in the area to mitigate further spread of the oil.
The vessels of the company are also running skimmers, whichcan remove oil from the water.The Coast Guard said only about 160 liters (42 gallons) had been removed so far.
(With inputs from agencies)