Environmentalists are raising concerns about an oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico tied to an abandoned platform at least eight miles off the Texas coast.
State officials were notified about the apparent spill on July 14 and subsequently attributed it to a flowline riser — which generally carries fluid at the sites — leaking natural gas and condensate. Video posted on social media and airing on KPRC, a local TV station, showed liquid spewing out of the pipe.
“This leak is more disturbing evidence of the harms from idle drilling infrastructure off our coasts,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group.
The leak was still present as of Wednesday, when staff from the Texas General Land Office, the state Railroad Commission and the US Coast Guard inspected the site, according to an update that Texas state Representative Terri Leo Wilson shared on Facebook.
— Bloomberg