Two More Gulf Spills?

John Amos, head of the West Virginia-based nonprofit SkyTruth, was looking at satellite images of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon site when he noticed what appeared to be another small slick of oil about 11 miles off the coast of Louisiana and about 40 miles from the major spill. Amos' group uses the images to assess environmental problems; he was among the first independent experts to point out that the spill estimates from BP and the government were far too low, which has now been confirmed. Amos reported a "small but persistent leak or oily discharge" at a second site in the Gulf, one that appeared to be coming from platform 23051 in the Gulf of Mexico. It can be seen on multiple satellite images of the region. Minerals Management Service (MMS) records indicate that the platform belongs to Taylor Energy Company.

Amos contacted J. Henry Fair, a New York-based photographer who specializes in artistic renderings of the human impact on the environment. Fair was in the Gulf last weekend taking aerial photos of the spill with the group Southwings, and at Amos' suggestion sought out platform 23051. Fair found a rig with an oily sheen extending out into the water and snapped a series of photos. But upon closer inspection, it was a different rig—the Ocean Saratoga rig owned by Diamond Offshore. In some of Fair's photos, a platform is visible in the background, possibly the one he was originally searching for, 23051. Amos couldn't give an estimate on how much oil might be coming out of either site, though he noted that it is a "very small" amount.

That would mean there are potentially two other operations in the Gulf leaking oil. So just how common are such leaks? The sad reality is, we really don't know.





















http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/two-more-gulf-spills?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+motherjones%2FTheBlueMarble+%28Mother+Jones+|+The+Blue+Marble%29&utm_content=Twitter

<snip> The other, the Diamond Ocean Saratoga, is operated by Taylor Energy, which has been in the process of plugging and abandoning a Mississippi Canyon well where the platform was toppled during Hurricane Ivan. The Diamond Ocean Saratoga is the only one on the MMS list that is operating at a depth of less then 500 feet. Eleven of the rigs are operating at greater depths than the Deepwater Horizon, which was drilling a bit more than 5,000 feet below the surface.

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/25_gulf_oil_rigs_shutting_down.html

I love how Jindal complains about the lack of government response and then IN THE SAME BREATH says that he is in favor of more drilling.