Coast Guard Responds To Natural Gas Leak In Gulf Of Mexico

The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to a natural gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana Tuesday night.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday night, the Coast Guard and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement are responding to a loss of well control event at Ship Shoal Block 225 Platform B, a natural gas and crude oil platform, located about 74 miles southwest of Port Fourchon.

According to the Coast Guard, authorities received a report from Energy Resources Technology Gulf of Mexico LLC that an oil and natural gas production platform, owned by ERT, lost well control. Work to temporarily plug the well was on-going, when workers became aware of the incident.

Two other wells on Platform B were producing at the time and were subsequently shut-in.

All platform personnel were safely evacuated.

According to ERT's site assessment, natural gas is flowing from the well and there is a rainbow sheen visible on the surface estimated to be more than four miles wide by three quarters of a mile long.

The BSEE Houma District staff and Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Morgan City personnel are monitoring well control and pollution response efforts in ERT's Command Center in Houston, according to the Coast Guard. Both BSEE and Coast Guard are also working with other federal and local agencies in response to this incident.

Coast Guard and BSEE will conduct an investigation of the incident to determine the cause of the loss of well control.