Large oil spill in Gulf following Hurricane Ida
While power could be out for weeks in hardest-hit areas
Clean-up crews are responding to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida, the US Coast Guard has revealed. The spill, which is ongoing, appears to be coming from a source underwater at an offshore drilling lease about 3km south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The reported location is near the site of a miles-long brown and black oil slick visible in aerial photos first published on Thursday by The Associated Press.
So far, the growing spill appears to have remained out to sea and has not impacted the Louisiana shoreline. There is not yet any estimate for how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images reviewed by AP yesterday appeared to show the slick drifting more than 19km eastward along the Gulf coast.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Edwards said response teams are monitoring reports and satellite imagery to determine the scope of the discharge. He said the source of the pollution is located in Bay Marchand, Block 4, and is believed to be crude oil from an undersea pipeline owned by Talos Energy.
Meanwhile full restoration of electricity to some of the hardest-hit areas of Louisiana battered to an unprecedented degree by Hurricane Ida could take until the end of the month, the head of Entergy Louisiana warned yesterday.
At least 16 deaths were blamed on the storm in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Ida damaged or destroyed more than 22,000 power poles, more than hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined, an impact Entergy President and CEO Phillip May called “staggering”. More than 5200 transformers failed and nearly 26,000 spans of wire — the stretch of transmission wires between poles — were down.
“The level of devastation makes it quite difficult or near impossible to get in and fully assess some places,” said May of five southeastern Louisiana parishes facing the longest delays.
The company is estimating full power restoration by September 29 or even longer for some customers.
About a quarter of New Orleans residents have power back, including all the city’s hospitals, and the city’s 27 substations are ready to serve customers, said Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO. Most customers should have power back by Thursday, Entergy said.
One of the parishes facing long delays for power restoration is Terrebonne, where volunteers in the parish seat of Houma handed out ice, water and meals to shell-shocked storm survivors.
Among those in need was 26-yearold Kendall Duthu of Dulac, who collected a container of red beans and rice, pulling over an Infiniti with a shattered windshield to eat.
Duthu has been living in his car, with his girlfriend, since the storm hit. He was a cook at a jambalaya restaurant before the pandemic claimed that job, then a car wash worker until that went away. Duthu, a diabetic, lost his house in the storm and doesn’t know what’s next.
“Next stop, I don’t really . . .” he said, trailing off. “We’ve just been living day by day.”
South of Houma, splintered trees, swamped furniture and the wreckage of houses littered roadsides. In Ashland, Louisiana, 27-year-old Rene Gregoire Jr. stood outside his house, where windows blew out and water gushed in.
It was the latest blow for the tugboat worker after badly hurting his wrist on the job, contracting Covid-19, and his dog requiring a $3000 surgery.
“It’s my home but I gotta find something new,” Gregoire said, pondering a move to Arizona with his girlfriend.