CONOCO Pipeline #1; 7 miles west of Fouchon, Louisiana

7 miles west of Fouchon, Louisiana | 1991-Dec-12

Initial Notification: On December 12, 1992, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO) Morgan City, Louisiana received a report from Chevron USA, through the National Response Center, that a sheen 10 by 0.5 nautical miles (nm) had been sighted by a commercial helicopter pilot at coordinates 29?01'N and 090?15'W. The vessel, Pard I, was near the release working on an underwater pipeline crack for CONOCO. The weather at the scene was calm, temperature 81?F, winds south-southwest 12 to 13 knots, seas 1 to 2 feet, with visibility 3 miles and decreasing due to fog. The incident took place during the early-morning hours, but was not reported until late afternoon. The lateness of the report was probably caused by reduced visibility because of early-morning fog that restricted the ability of aircraft to spot the spill. MSO Morgan City reported that CONOCO personnel reported at 1600 that the spill was caused by a break in a CONOCO pipeline and estimated the amount of product spilled at five gallons. In actuality, the spill, based on initial overflight reports, was probably 300 to 600 gallons. CONOCO brought in CONOCO response personnel, Clean Gulf, Riedel Peterson, and Petroleum Helicopter, Inc. (PHI). By the next morning, there were skimmers, one 25-foot pontoon boat, two 16-foot flat boats, one 21-foot response boat, 1,000 feet of six-inch sorbent boom, miscellaneous cleanup equipment, and PHI helicopters on scene or en route. The weather had become favorable to the cleanup effort in that the wind was out of the north at about 20 miles per hour with gusts to 25 miles per hour and seas at three to five feet. The cleanup operation was completed on December 13 when overflights confirmed that there was no visible sign of pollution in the water or on the shore. USCG district 8. Keyword: skimmers, sorbent boom.