Gulf Crisis Unveiled: In the quest to uncover the origins of a significant oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard continues its search for the source of a breach in an underwater pipeline off the Louisiana coast. The estimated release exceeds a staggering one million gallons of crude oil.
Main Pass Oil Gathering Co (MPOG) took swift action, shutting down the 67-mile long pipeline on Thursday morning upon detecting crude oil around 19 miles offshore of the Mississippi River Delta, near Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans. “Overflight teams observed visible oil Friday moving southwest away from the Louisiana shore,” reported the Coast Guard. Concurrently, efforts to recover oil persist, with underwater devices deployed to survey the pipeline and pinpoint the elusive leak.
While the precise volume of discharged oil remains unknown, initial engineering calculations by the Coast Guard, overseeing the cleanup, suggest a substantial 1.1 million gallons, equivalent to 26,190 barrels.
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As of now, no injuries or shoreline impacts have been reported, and the cause of the leak is subject to a thorough investigation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed on Friday that the Coast Guard activated the National Response Team, a coalition of 15 federal entities tasked with coordinating responses to oil pollution incidents.
Third Coast Infrastructure, the entity owning MPOG, has chosen to remain silent on the matter, declining to comment on Friday and redirecting inquiries to the Coast Guard. The unfolding situation raises environmental concerns, prompting heightened cleanup efforts and a collaborative effort to unearth the circumstances surrounding this substantial oil spill.