Oil spill nearly contained after nervous moments for area fishermen

Efforts to clean up a discharge of oil from a flow line segment in Gulf of Mexico waters, about 90 miles south of Terrebonne Parish, continue successfully, federal officials report, with no indications that chemical dispersants will be employed.

That’s good news to Louisiana shrimpers, preparing to start their 2016 inshore season next week, briefly feared another calamity, amid initial concerns that dispersants might be employed.

Correxit, a chemical that interacts with petroleum, was used widely during the 2010 non-stop BP spill, and fishermen have never felt that claims the substance does no harm were accurate or warranted.

“I have been watching the reports and am okay that it was so far out, that it won’t make it into the estuaries,” said Montegut shrimper Lance Nacio. “They have already collected 50,000 gallons and I feel confident it is being appropriately handled. When I heard about it I was saddened to think about all we went through that it can still happen, even with the new safety measures they took. I thought ‘Oh no, not again.’”

The spill was reported at about 11 a.m. Thursday; an estimated 88,200 gallons of crude oil was discharged in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf. The spill, authorities reported, was due to a pipe break that was easily remedied, allowing the flow to be quickly seamed. There was also no explosion associated with the incident Shell shut in their production at the Glider Field. The 2010 discharge from BP’s Macondo well, following an explosion that claimed 11 lives and sank the Deepwater Horizon platform, went on unchecked for 90 days, resulting in a precautionary shut-down of recreational and commercial fishing through a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico. Damages relating to the spill and the fisheries shut-down are still being litigated.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the agency and Shell have in total mobilized 130 people to work on what is described as a unified response.

Aircraft were contracted to provide assessments of the affected area.

“The reported trajectory is in a westerly direction with no expected shoreline impact at this time,” a Monday update on the cleanup states. “The Coast Guard and Shell jointly agreed that using on-water recovery vessels and skimming is the safest and most effective oil recovery option at this time.”

The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) remains involved and is leading an investigation to determine the cause of the release.

There have been no reported impacts to Terrebonne or Lafourche wildlife

On Monday, the Coast Guard reported that water recovery vessels were searching for oil that could be safely reclaimed through skimming. Five on-water recovery vessels were mobilized and the Coast Guard reported that 51,000 gallons of an oily-water mixture were cleaned up, with efforts continuing.

Terrebonne Parish Emergency Management Director Earl Eues said his agency was receiving regular updates from state emergency officials.

“We are getting updates,” Eues said. “As for the waters of Terrebonne Parish, it won’t be affecting us. The trajectories show it heading west, toward Freshwater City. But we are keeping an eye on it. They will notify us if there is any intention of dispersants being used that could affect our waters. We also know that with current weather conditions, 50 percent of that oil is going to be evaporated.” •

Oil spill