Mystery Oil Spill Hits Gulf

The Times-Picayune reports:

Emulsified oil, oil mousse and tar balls from an unknown source were washing up on beaches from Grand Isle to West Timbalier Island along the Gulf of Mexico, a stretch of about 30 miles, and it was still heading west Monday afternoon, a Louisiana official said. The state is testing the material to see if it matches oil from last April's BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Oil spill response workers under the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard and state officials were scrambling to block more of the material from coming ashore. ES&H Corp. has been hired to oversee the cleanup.

"We are working with our state and local partners to mitigate any further environmental impact while continuing to facilitate the safe movement of marine traffic to the fullest extent possible," Capt. Jonathan Burton, the federal on-scene coordinator for the response, said in a news release late Monday.

"To avoid delays in resource availability and delivery, we have taken a forward leaning approach and authorized ES&H to procure whatever additional boom and resources they need," Burton said.

The news release said that when all areas where the material has washed ashore are combined, about a half-mile of shoreline was affected.

Workers have deployed about 10,000 feet of containment and sorbent boom to prevent damage to environmentally sensitive areas; two MARKO skimmers are being moved to the area and another two are available; and two barge boats and two drum skimmers are at the scene.

The state has requested more boom, sorbents, skimmers and other equipment from the Coast Guard, said Garret Graves, coastal adviser to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"Currently, boom is deployed in the Elmers/Caminada area and we're looking at one gap closure" in that area, Graves said. "We have multiple independent tests under way to determine the source."

On Sunday, Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts reported that a Coast Guard official had said the oil might be from a project to plug and abandon a well just offshore of Grand Isle. But Coast Guard officials said they're still waiting for tests of material collected in that area to determine where it came from.

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