HOUMA, La. – The Unified Command has reopened the Intracoastal Waterway near Bayou Perot, La., today at about 8 a.m. after a portion of ICW was closed due to a damaged oil wellhead that started spilling sweet crude oil into the bayou early Sunday.
The ICW was closed early Sunday between mile markers 19 and 21 when oil from the damaged wellhead entered a portion of the ICW. Cleanup crews have contained and removed the oil from the ICW, and the unified command has reopened the waterway to all vessel traffic.
More than 25,000 feet of oil containment boom has been deployed around the wellhead in Bayou Perot and along the neighboring shoreline. Most of the oil from the wellhead has been contained within Bayou Perot and Little Lake, and oil has been removed from the ICW and Lake Salvador.
The Unified Command is positioning crews and equipment today, and operations are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning to secure the wellhead.
Responding agencies include:
* U.S. Coast Guard
* Sector New Orleans
* Marine Safety Unit Morgan City, La.
* Marine Safety Unit Houma, La.
* Gulf Strike Team
* ExPert Oil & Gas LLC
* Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
* Environmental Safety and Health Consulting and Training Group
* Wild Well Control Inc.
* Louisiana State Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Coast Guard Sector New Orleans continues to investigate the cause of the spill.
About 13,800-feet of containment boom surrounds the damaged wellhead.
Photograph Courtesy of the Environmental Safety and Health Consulting and Training Group
Source: USCG D8 Press Release
Technorati Tags: Coast Guard, USCG, oil spill, Louisiana, Bayou Perot
