Garden Island Bay; Mississippi River Delta, LA

Mississippi River Delta, LA | 2007-May-30

Initial Notification: Following Hurricane Katrina, oil pollution was observed in the area of Garden Island Bay (part of the Louisiana Mississippi River Delta). The initial response was included as one of more than one hundred small pollution cases investigated during the post-hurricane response under ESF-10. Subsequently, this site was been identified as a chronic source of oil pollution that may be derived from some historical, subsurface oil spill incident that wasn't observed until after the hurricane eroded much of the marsh in SE Louisiana. A possible source is a submerged pipeline. The USCG has requested renewed assistance from NOAA in this investigation.