CONOCO Pipeline #2; Grand Isle Block 43, LA

Grand Isle Block 43, LA | 1992-Jan-04

Initial Notification: At 1142 January 6, 1992, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO) Morgan City, Louisiana received a report from the National Response Center (NRC) that a 12- by 1-mile slick of unknown origin had been reported by the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Facility (LOOP) Inc. helicopter in position 28?59'N, 089?52'W, Grand Isle Block 43. By 1400, Air Station New Orleans reported that a USCG helicopter had sighted a slick in the same area estimated to be 10 by 2.5 nautical miles (nm) that had broken up into patches with surrounding rainbow sheen for another 10 nm. The USCG were told by CONOCO that the leak had been reported to the Mineral Management Service and that a report of a pipeline leak had been made to the NRC on January 4. At that time the leak was reported as having released 4.1 gallons with a slick size of one by seven nm with color barely visible. CONOCO's highest estimate, toward the end of the cleanup, was reported by the USCG as 150 barrels. On June 7, CONOCO reported that the pipeline had a capacity of 1,500 barrels of crude. By 0715, CONOCO had two skimmers working offshore and 30,000 feet of containment boom, 6,000 feet of sorbent boom, 24 scare guns, and 80 response personnel on scene CONOCO reported that all leaks in the pipeline had been secured and no product was leaking. The cleanup effort continued until late morning on January 10 when overflights confirmed that the shoreline was clean and there was no further danger of beach impact from oil drifting offshore. Throughout the response only three oil-impacted birds were found, even though heavy impact on the bird population had been expected. CONOCO hired Tri-State Bird Rescue to treat impacted birds. USCG district 8. Keyword: sorbent boom, containment boom, skimmers, Tri-State Bird Rescue.