A Second Oil Spill In The Gulf

A second leak, discovered at the Ocean Saratoga rig, is leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Initial reports claim the the volume of crude oil being released is much less than that of the Deepwater Horizon, but a 10 mile long oil slick has been detected by satellite. The site is visible in satelite images gathered by Skytruth.org, which first reported the leak on its website May 15.

The Ocean Saratoga site, owned by Taylor Energy, is located approximately ten miles off the coast of southern Louisiana. Official figures released report only 14 gallons of oil per day being emitted into the Gulf of Mexico to account for the massive oil slick.

Reports admit that small amounts have been leaking daily since Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004 causing an undersea mudslide that destroyed the rig. Taylor Energy says they have been working since that time to stop the leak.

The ten-mile oil slick discovered today near the Saratoga site demands more public scrutiny on the Saratoga oil leaks, which managed to go unnoticed until the recent BP disaster.

Taylor Energy released a statement Tuesday afternoon stating that the rig has been performing an “ongoing well intervention program” to repair damage that occurred in 2004 with Hurricane Ivan. Taylor Energy explains that the “associated surface sheen was minimal and never made landfall,” and “initial average observed sheen volume of nine gallons per day has been substantially reduced.” The company didn’t say what it has been reduced to or how their estimates were calculated.

Information is unclear as to whether the well has been leaking consistently since 2004, or if the recently discovered ten mile long oil slick is the result of a recent event. What we do know, is that in addition to the BP disaster, there is a ten mile long oil slick off the coast of Louisiana that we didn’t know about before.