The Longest U.S Oil Spill

Oil spill and weeds
The Americas Corporate News Offshore Accidents & Emergencies
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Updated Published

When Taylor Energy’s MC20 oil production platform collapsed in an underwater mudslide caused during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, it became known as the longest running oil spill in the history of the United States of America. It continues to leak in the Gulf of Mexico 11 miles south of the shoreline in Louisiana.

This week marks the milestone of more than a million gallons of oil amassed and extracted from the location. 

Couvillion Group LLC created and installed an oil containment system in 2019. The system gets the oil as it emerges under the surface. Experts are still working on a permanent solution. This milestone was made possible by the system, the Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other federal agencies.

This milestone was made possible by the containment system, the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal agencies.

The NOAA helps the Coast Guard with this and other oil spills. The NOAA examines the location, evaluates flow rates, identifies oil slicks, analyzes the impacts on marine life, and helps with financial settlements that fund the restoration.

“The near elimination of the surface sheen and collection and removal of more than one million gallons of oil from the site over the previous three years is a major milestone in the Coast Guard’s efforts to contain the MC-20 oil spill that has affected the waters off the Gulf Coast for years,” said Coast Guard’s Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the incident Captain Kelly Denning. “Though the containment system is considered a great success, the federal government is exploring all available response options, including to properly decommission the impacted wells on site.”

The U.S. and Taylor Energy reached a $16.5 million settlement for restoration in December 2021. More than $432 million from Taylor Energy’s Decommissioning Trust went to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to fund ongoing efforts to plug the well and stop the spill in March 2022. The same month the settlement was finalized in Federal District Court. The $16.5 million finalized settlement funds projects that restore the natural resources affected by this oil spill.