South Marsh Block 243 Oil Spill; Gulf of Mexico, LA

Gulf of Mexico, LA | 2009-Feb-01

Initial Notification: Shortly after noon (local time) on 1 Feb. 2009 (Super Bowl Sunday), the NOAA HAZMAT Duty Officer notified the regional Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) of a request for support from USCG Marine Safety Unit Morgan City, LA. The MSU was notified of a reported observed slick some 20 miles off Marsh Island in the vicinity of South Marsh Block 243. The observed slick was reported as 1 x 6 miles in size an estimated by the observer as 600 bbls of crude oil (note this value was an estimate only). No additional information is known at this time other than the suspected source is thought to be a pipeline failure.