A series of aerial photographs taken by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after the passage of Hurricane Ida warn about a huge black oil stain on the water near a platform that has ‘Enterprise Offshore Drilling’ painted on its helipad, in the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, the images revised by the AP agency, reveal a apparent flooding at the Phillips 66 Alliance refinery, in Louisiana, where the water has also taken on the rainbow glow typical of oil and fuel spills, along the banks of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans.
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Greg Langley said there was no estimate of how much oil could have spilled from the refinery.
As of Wednesday, state regulators were tracking about 100 chemical and oil spill reports across the state ranging from sunken ships with diesel leaks to capsized fuel tanks and flooded pipelines, according to a call log.
For his part, the refinery’s spokesman, Bernardo Fallas, commented to the media that “the shine seems to be secured and contained within the refinery grounds … The cleaning teams are in place. The incident was reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies upon discovery. “
