| Taylor Energy oil spill | |
|---|---|
  Louisiana showing spill site relative to the Mississippi delta Location of the Taylor oil spill, off the southeast coast of Louisiana | |
 | |
| Location | Gulf of Mexico |
| Coordinates | 28°56′09″N 88°58′12″W / 28.93583°N 88.97000°W[1] |
| Date | 2004 – 2019 [2] |
| Cause | |
| Cause | Hurricane |
| Casualties | none |
| Operator | Taylor Energy |
| Spill characteristics | |
| Volume | Currently collecting approximately 1,000 gallons a day [3] |
| Area | 8 square miles (21 km2) [4] |
| Shoreline impacted | Gulf Coast of the United States |
The 2004 Taylor Energy oil spill is an ongoing spill located in the Gulf of Mexico, around 11 miles (18 km) off the coast of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the result of the destruction of a Taylor Energy oil platform during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It is the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history.[5] It was first brought to public attention when contamination at the site was noticed in 2010 by those monitoring the nearby Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A report by the Associated Press in 2015 challenged the estimates of the extent of the leak originally given by the company and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which were then revised to be around 1,000 times greater than initially reported.
Upper estimates of the spill have been calculated to be as much as 140,000,000 US gallons (530,000,000 L; 120,000,000 imp gal), or about 3,333,300 barrels of oil lost over the life of the disaster, and affecting an area as large as 8 square miles (21 km2).[6] As of late 2019, it was estimated between nine and 108 barrels per day are being spilled, making it one of the worst modern oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico by volume.[7] Since 2019, Couvillion Group, retained by the USCG after a national RFP (Request for Proposal) process, has been capturing approximately a thousand gallons per day.[3] The reserves are likely sufficient for the spill to continue for more than 100 years if not further contained.
Taylor Energy claims to have spent as much as $435 million decommissioning the site, and that nothing further can be done to contain the spill. They further state that current observations of oil plumes in the area are the result of contaminated sediments, and not an active spill. These claims, have been disputed by non-profit groups, the press and government officials based on the actual volume of oil currently being safely captured by Couvillion Group.[7]
In 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard and private contractors finally began to contain the majority of the leaking oil, but after 16 years of uncontrolled leakage, the Taylor spill has become the nation's longest continuous oil spill.
- ^ "Skytruth Alert: NRC Report: Unknown Oil 2017-10-12". SkyTruth. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Mike. "More than 1 million gallons of oil – so far – collected from longest-running spill in U.S. history". The Advocate. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
- ^ a b WERTHEIM, JON (June 5, 2022). "Taylor Energy Oil Spill: Stanching the longest-running oil spill you've likely never heard of". CBS News. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
- ^ "Incident Archive - Taylor Energy Oil Discharge at MC-20 Site and Ongoing Response Efforts". Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ Yessenia Funes (June 25, 2019). "Longest Oil Spill in U.S. History May Be 900 Times Larger Than Originally Estimated". earther.gizmodo.com. Gizmodo. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- ^ Plumer, Brad. "Louisiana Company to Pay $43 Million for Longest-Running Oil Spill in U.S. History". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
- ^ a b Vaccaro, Nick (January 7, 2022). "Technology Continues to Win in Taylor Energy Spill Recovery". Oilman Magazine. Retrieved September 21, 2022.