350 Oil Spills reported throughout Southeastern Louisiana after Hurricane Ida

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The US Coast Guard is investigating reports of nearly 350 oil spill incidents in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Last month, the Category 4 storm strongly hit Louisiana and shut down nearly 95% of the region’s crude oil and gas production. The Coast Guard issued a statement and said, “Coast Guard crews from across the nation have deployed throughout Southeastern Louisiana to conduct hazard assessments in order to identify and prioritize threats to the environment and navigable waterways. These assessments are essential to ensuring waterways are safe for marine traffic and ensuring that potential pollution hazards are expeditiously identified and mitigated”. The US Coast Guard crews conducted over-flights on Sunday to focus on 2 locations among the hundreds reported. Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took aerial images of an oil spill 2 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Lieutenant John Edwards of the US Coast Guard informed a news outlet that the agency was aware of and responding to reports of pollution in the area. Talos Energy is a Houston-based energy provider to the Gulf of Mexico and hired nonprofit oil-spill group Clean Gulf Associates to respond to the spill. Talos also contracted divers to locate the pollution’s source, which was attributed to a ruptured underwater pipeline. Talos said in a statement that the pipeline responsible for the leak doesn’t belong to its facilities. The company said it is working with Louisiana officials and the Coast Guard to identify who the ruptured pipe belongs to. The senior vice president of Talos, John Spath said, “Although the spill was unrelated to our operations, it was important to mobilize and identify the source and to contain the release to reduce safety and environmental risks”.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard said crews didn’t observe active discharge at the Bay Marchand Port or near Enterprise, 2 sites where spillage was previously reported. But the crews located a different oil spill approximately 5 miles away from the Bay Marchand Port. The Coast Guard said estimates of the amount of oil released from company S2 Energy have not yet been determined, but the impacted area is about 100-yards long and 100-yards wide. The Coast Guard said S2 Energy has contracted an oil spill response organization to mitigate the spread and collect any recoverable product. Moreover, Hurricane Ida devastated New Orleans on August 29, killing at least 68 people and leaving more than a million residents without power. The powerful storm brought fatal flash flooding and tornadoes to parts of the East Coast.