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Coast Guard responds Sunday to multiple oil spills along Southeast Louisiana

No active discharges observed
Coast Guard oil spill (1).jpg
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Coast Guard crews conducted overflights of the Louisiana coast on Sunday focusing on two locations that had previously been identified as possible oil spills.

The flights, they say, were in response to their ongoing Hurricane Ida recovery efforts.

Members of the National Strike Force aboard a Coast Guard HC-144 flew over Bay Marchand, south of Port Fourchon and the Enterprise Offshore Drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

The teams were prepared to track and monitor any threats a possible oil spill may pose to the environment.

Coast Guard crews observed no active discharge at the Bay Marchand site or near the Enterprise site.

Coast Guard oil spill (2).jpg
A Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew conducts an overflight assessment Sept. 5, 2021 of the Bay Marchand approximately 2 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The crew witnessed an 11-mile rainbow sheen that the Coast Guard is actively monitoring.

The USCG says that during the flight, it was discovered that a wellhead belonging to S2 Energy was discharging oil approximately five miles away from the Bay Marchand site.

The S2 Energy facility reports they have since secured the wellhead and it is no longer discharging oil.

S2 Energy has contracted an Oil Spill Response Organization to boom the area in order to mitigate the spread and collect any recoverable product, according to the Coast Guard.

The impacted area is approximately 100-yards long by 100-yard wide.

Estimates of release are yet to be determined, they say.

The Coast Guard says it is prioritizing nearly 350 reported incidents for further investigation by state, local, and federal authorities in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

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