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Coast Guard contains 14-year-old oil spill in Gulf

Posted at 12:04 PM, May 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-16 13:04:39-04

The Coast Guard and a team of contractors have deployed a containment system on a 14-year-old oil spill 11 miles south of the Louisiana shoreline.

The subsea system is able to contain and collect oil being discharged from the Taylor Energy Company Mississippi Canyon 20 toppled oil platform, Coast Guard officials say.

The containment system is actively collecting oil, they say.

The installation of the containment system is a major milestone in the Coast Guard’s efforts to contain the Taylor Energy MC20 oil spill that has affected the waters off the Gulf Coast for 14 years, Coast Guard officials say.

“After monitoring the system for several weeks we have determined that the system is meeting federal containment standards,” said Capt. Kristi Luttrell, the Coast Guard’s federal on-scene coordinator for the incident. “At this time the system is working and the once predominately large surface sheen has been reduced to barely visible. We will continue to monitor the containment system’s performance and make necessary adjustments to maximize containment of the spill.”

Here’s a diagram of the system:

And here’s a document explaining the installation, with diagrams and photos: