Wellhead Incident; Little Lake, LA

Little Lake, LA | 2007-Mar-11

Initial Notification: NOAA was notified on 11 March 2007 of a tug striking a wellhead platform resulting in a 15 to 20 foot spray of oil. Fortunately, the incident only involved a connecting flow line that was cut by the tug's prop and not a wild well blowout. An employee of the company that manages the well observed the incident and was able to access the platform and secure the line by shutting in an isolation valve. As a result, what could have been a much larger problem was quickly minimized to a small spill. NOAA has provided consultation to the USCG on the fate and transport of the spilled oil.