Coast Guard Responds to Allision, Pipeline Fire South of New Orleans

Responders continued to monitor and prepare salvage, firefighting and pollution contingencies for a tug and barge that allided with a pipeline near Bayou Perot 30 miles south of New Orleans Wednesday.

All crew members were able to exit the tug; the captain reportedly suffered second to third-degree degree burns.

ES & H, the oil spill response organization, is on scene and has mobilized 7,218 feet of containment boom and 6,000 feet of 18-inch containment boom, one cabin boat, five responder class boats, one Marco skimmer and two 24-foot express hull vessels in response to the incident.

There is a one mile by 75 foot-wide sheen reported in the vicinity of the tug and barge.

The owner of the pipeline is Chevron, and the owner of the barge is Setoon Towing LLC. The pipeline was shut in Tuesday evening, and the fire will diminish as the product diminishes.

The fire reportedly has reduced in size by approximately 30 percent, and there are no reports of oil in the water. Visual imagery intially indicated potential pockets of crude oil; however, those areas have been determined to be particulate ash from the liquefied natural gas burn off.

Approximately 2,200 barrels of crude oil remain on board the barge and has not been compromised.

A staging area has been established at the C & M Fuel Dock.

The Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team has arrived on scene and are underway to check spill trajectory. There are approximately 40 response personnel on scene.

Resources deployed for the incident:

The 160-foot Coast Guard Cutter Axe and crew;
Two sections of containment boom, 6,000 feet and 7,000 feet;
Two Marco skimmers;
Ten response vessels;
Two oil spill response trailers.

“We are aggressively responding with our state and local partners to mitigate the fire and prevent any potential impacts from oil that entered the water,” said Cmdr. Russ Bowen, incident commander, Sector New Orleans.

The Coast Guard is working with federal, state and local agencies in response to this incident to ensure the safety of responders and contain and clean up any oil that is leaking. The unified command consists of the U.S. Coast Guard, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, Settoon Towing, Jefferson and Lafourche Parishes, Chevron and ES&H.

The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.

www.uscg.mil