On September 3, 2021, a road in Grand Island, Louisiana, was partially covered by flooding after Hurricane Ida. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
The U.S. Coast Guard said on Sunday that workers deployed oil booms and oil skimmers in an attempt to contain a large-scale oil spill that was discovered after Hurricane Ida swept across the Gulf of Mexico.
The leak occurred in the waters near the Port of Fuljeong, Louisiana-near where Ida landed-the area is the main center of the US petrochemical industry.
According to the “Houston Chronicle”, a slick of oil now stretches for more than ten miles in the warm waters of the Gulf, but has not yet reached the shore.
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The Louisiana Coast Guard said it has learned of the leak in the area and is responding, but did not provide any details.
The Coast Guard said that Talos Energy, a Texas company specializing in offshore oil and gas exploration, will send a diving team to the area on Sunday to find the source of the leak.
Talos Energy said in a statement:
The ongoing investigation has not yet determined the cause of the release; however, extensive field observations indicate that Talos assets are not the source.
Talos said it is using oil booms and oil skimmers to recover oil.
According to local authorities, Ada roared through Louisiana at a wind speed of 240 kilometers per hour last Sunday, causing catastrophic damage.
Later downgraded to tropical storm status, Ada still retained a rare power because it rumbling in the northeastern United States, killing dozens of people.
In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico, triggering the worst oil spill in history.
