Crews Continue Cleaning After Oil Spill

Posted: Apr 8, 2010 2:22 PM by Letitia Walker

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Coast Guard says crews have laid more

than two miles of floats to keep spilled oil out of sensitive

marshlands in and near a remote national wildlife refuge.

Lt. Stephen Nutting says that as of midmorning Thursday, 12,500

feet of containment boom had been set out in the Delta National

Wildlife Refuge, Breton Sound and the Gulf of Mexico.

About 18,000 gallons of oil spilled Tuesday from a pipeline in

the heart of the 76-square-mile refuge near the mouth of the

Mississippi River.

Nutting says the spill was reported about 1 a.m. Tuesday by the

dredge Capt. Beauford - a "spud barge," which uses a large pipe

or timber to anchor itself.

Nutting has said the incident is under investigation, so he

cannot comment on whether the "spud" damaged the pipeline.