Ocean Saratoga: Another Oil Spill In The Gulf? Coast Guard Investigates

In the wake of yet another possible oil spill in the Gulf region, the United States Coast Guard has decided to launch an investigation into the dark waters surrounding Taylor Energy Corporation's Ocean Saratoga rig, resting only 40 miles away from the Deepwater Horizon rig.

Though the rig has been leaking since at least April 30, the rig's owner, Taylor Energy Corporation, and operator, Diamond Offshore Drilling, are both declining to comment. Taylor's spokesperson Denise Fields told Huffington Post that the company would be issuing a press release this afternoon.

Mobile, Alabama's Press Register reported that a 10-mile long slick emanating from the rig is visible from space.

Earlier today, Mother Jones's Kate Sheppard reported that John Amos of West Virginia-based nonprofit SkyTruth, was the first to notice the spill, observing an oil slick eleven miles off the coast of Louisiana. After viewing satellite images of the reported second spill, Amos concluded that the Deep Water Horizon and the Saratoga spills are independent of one another, meaning the Gulf cleanup situation may be getting worse before it gets better.

An analyst for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Douglas L. Becker, claims that reports of a second leak have been "taken out of context," stating that the rig is "in the process of plugging and abandoning a well where the platform was damaged during Hurricane Ike," reports Zero Hedge.

The Ocean Saratoga rig has been involved in previous incidents, including a March 2005 mishap in which the wellhead connector on the blowout preventer stack unlatched due to "poor procedures and human errors," according to a report by the Mineral Management Service, the government's offshore drilling regulator. As a result, 500 barrels of calcium chloride completion fluid was released.

Comments

[techcafe]

09:48 PM on 06/09/2010

MODERATOR: can you please STOP blocking my comments!!!

[SkyTruth]

06:31 PM on 06/09/2010

To clarify - at SkyTruth, using satellite imagery from multiple dates, we identified a possible small leak in the vicinity of Platform 23051: a manned oil and gas platform in the Gulf that was installed at this location in the 1980s, according to MMS information.

A photographer flying over the Gulf a few days ago in the general vicinity of the platform collected photos and video of what we think is a different event: an apparent oil slick next to the Ocean Saratoga drill rig. According to a company news release and other reports, the Ocean Saratoga is plugging a well that was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004; the average daily rate of leakage from this well is very small; the rig itself is not leaking; and this plugging work is being done with Coast Guard approval.

At this time we still don't know if there is a small but persistent leak at or near Platform 23051.

[SeekWisdom]

09:08 PM on 06/09/2010

"damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004" ????? 2004????

It takes how many years to get on this????

[HLL]

12:16 PM on 06/09/2010

The poor Gulf of Mexico. Wish I'd seen her when she was alive.

[PUAAN]

11:39 AM on 06/09/2010

So why couldn't there be monitoring vessels (Coast Guard, EPA, etc) visiting EVERY site off EVERY shore on a frequent and random basis, say weekly, taking water samples at various depths all around each site? Submarine robotic vehicles could even be used. These are successfully used for all kinds of research at depth.

Real time satellite monitoring for this can also be done, as the skytruth people have shown. It would at least identify problem areas that could be monitored more frequently, like daily or continuously.

[BryanG]

11:24 AM on 06/09/2010

That one has been leaking for 6 years....NICE. but I suppose we should feel good, they have reduce the surface sheen.

Sounds like simple thing here. No more drilling until they prove they can quickly shut a well down, with 0 ounces escaping after it is shut. Last time I checked 6 years is not quick.

More detail here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/08/ap/business/main6562082.shtml

[Billy Jack]

11:05 AM on 06/09/2010

Why are we just hearing about this now? How many others don't we know about? Enough is enough, shut down all these rigs immediately

[ganglewaefre]

11:50 AM on 06/09/2010

How many others? Good question. I suspect those that didn't have a fiery explosion don't get reported.

Shut 'em down. 10-4.

[Mensch99]

06:19 AM on 06/09/2010

The spawn of Gulfzilla!

[plaidsportcoat]

02:31 AM on 06/09/2010

"the United States Coast Guard has decided to launch an investigation "

Ho hum, la de da de dum. Oh, what's that? Well, let's not investigate it until at least six weeks have gone by, maybe nobody will notice.

[Dr Juan]

01:19 AM on 06/09/2010

Lots of seeps and weeps in the Gulf and now another well is found with a leak being described as minor - trust but verify ASAP please!

Being a shallow well, all oil is rising to surface where it can be counted and collected or dispersed..

[piggybackmom]

12:49 AM on 06/09/2010

I had ask weeks ago if there was another leak close to the BP site. This answers my question.
Glad to here the leak spotted, but sad to read that there is this leak too.

[techcafe]

12:06 AM on 06/09/2010

Offshore drilling operations create various forms of pollution that have considerable impacts on marine and other wildlife.

These include drilling muds, brine wastes, deck runoff water and flowline and pipeline leaks. Catastrophic spills and blowouts are also a threat from offshore drilling operations. These operations also pose a threat to human health, especially to oil platform workers themselves.

Drilling muds and produced water are disposed of daily by offshore rigs. Offshore rigs can dump tons of drilling fluid, metal cuttings, including toxic metals, such as lead chromium and mercury, as well as carcinogens, such as benzene, into the ocean.

Drilling muds are used for the lubrication and cooling of the drill bit and pipe. The muds also remove the cuttings that come from the bottom of the oil well and help prevent blowouts by acting as a sealant. There are different types of drilling muds used in oil drilling operations, but all release toxic chemicals that can affect marine life. One drilling platform normally drills between seventy and one hundred wells and discharges more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluids and metal cuttings into the ocean.

cont...

[techcafe]

12:08 AM on 06/09/2010

Produced water is fluid trapped underground and brought up with oil and gas. It makes up about 20 percent of the waste associated with offshore drilling. Produced waters usually have an oil content of 30 to 40 parts per million. As a result, the nearly 2 billion gallons of produced water released into the Cook Inlet in Alaska each year contain about 70,000 gallons of oil.

Factors other than pollutants can affect marine wildlife as well. Exploration for offshore oil involves firing air guns which send a strong shock across the seabed that can decrease fish catch, damage the hearing capacity of various marine species and may lead to marine mammal strandings.

More drilling muds and fluids are discharged into the ocean during exploratory drilling than in developmental drilling because exploratory wells are generally deeper, drilled slower and are larger in diameter. The drilling waste, including metal cuttings, from exploratory drilling are generally dumped in the ocean, rather than being brought back up to the platform.

cont...

[techcafe]

12:09 AM on 06/09/2010

Offshore oil rigs may also attract seabirds at night due to their lighting and flaring and because fish aggregate near them. Bird mortality has been associated with physical collisions with the rigs, as well as incineration by the flare and oil from leaks. This process of flaring involves the burning off of fossil fuels which produces black carbon.

Black carbon contributes to climate change as it is a potent warmer both in the atmosphere and when deposited on snow and ice. Drilling activity around oil rigs is suspected of contributing to elevated levels of mercury in Gulf of Mexico fish.
---
Impacts of Offshore Drilling
http://na.oceana.org/en/our-work/stop-ocean-pollution/oil-pollution/learn-act/impacts-of-offshore-drilling

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Map
http://www.google.com/search?q=gulf+of+mexico+dead+zone+map

[muddocktor]

07:29 PM on 06/09/2010

Don't know where you're getting some of your "facts", but you are full of poop on several counts. Any drilling fluid that is discharged has to pass a monthly 96 hour Mysid shrimp LC-50 test and if it fails, the cuttings and fluid have to be collected and disposed of at an approved disposal facility. The maximum discharge rate for drilling fluids is 1000 barrels/hr or less. As for the drilled cuttings, they are just deep down compressed dirt, buddy. You can see the same type formations if you tour the Grand Canyon. Very little metal is discharged when drilling a well, mainly after setting a string of casing. Then you will have a small amount of easily drilled metals that are discharged when drilling out the float and shoe. We are talking pounds of metal, not tons. As for toxic heavy metals, well you are full of it there also. No lead or mercury is used and what little chromium is used is a stable, trivalent chromium. And benzene is not used in drilling fluids that are discharged overboard and I doubt that it is used in synthetic drilling fluid systems either as it is a carcinogen. Again, the drilling fluid has to be able to pass a bioassay every month and at the end of a well.

cont...

[HHUA]

12:02 AM on 06/09/2010

This just gets better and better...

[techcafe]

12:00 AM on 06/09/2010

"yet ANOTHER OIL SPILL in the Gulf region - Taylor Energy Corporation's, Ocean Saratoga rig, resting only 40 miles away from the Deepwater Horizon has been leaking oil since at least April 30. Taylor Energy and rig operator, Diamond Offshore Drilling, are both declining to comment."

'both declining to comment' huh? yeah, i can see why...

so essentially, the petroleum industry in general, has been treating OUR oceans like their own personal toilets; thousands of these offshore rigs are turning the Gulf into a giant cesspool of crude oil and toxic drilling fluids AND quite likely responsible for the ever-growing DEAD ZONES in the Gulf of Mexico.

tell us something we don't know...

[Icantbelieveher]

10:49 PM on 06/08/2010

For those tro11s who think that this entire oil spill in the gulf is because environmentalists pushed the drilling further of the shore, look at the history of BP's accidents and deaths ON LAND!!!!!!!

"For example, last year the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found more than 700 violations at the Texas City refinery — many concerning faulty valves, which are critical for safety given the high temperatures and pressures. The agency fined BP a record $87.4 million, which was more than four times the previous record fine, also to BP, for the 2005 explosion.

Another refinery, in Toledo, Ohio, was fined $3 million two months ago for “willful” safety violations, including the use of valves similar to those that contributed to the Texas City blast.

“BP has systemic safety and health problems,” said Jordan Barab, the deputy assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. “They need to take their intentions and apply them much more effectively on the ground, where the hazards actually lie.”

BP said it was in full compliance and had contested the OSHA findings at Texas City and Toledo. Since the 2005 blast in Texas, BP has invested $1 billion to improve the refinery, it said.

Problems also remain in Alaska. In January, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent BP a letter highlighting “serious safety and production incidents” over the last two years in Prudhoe Bay, the nation’s largest oil field. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/business/09bp.html

[shortyz]

07:23 AM on 06/09/2010

when your running a process that is worth millions per day, your not about to shut down immediatly to fix a few valves that arent sealing perfectly. it may take 2 days to shut down a process like that to replace a 300$ valve, this repair is usually combined with a larger problem or upgrade and fixed when its in their best interest.

plant/rig managers are usually told about these minor problems and its in their best judgement to decide on when and how to fix it. fact is at the end of the day bp doesnt want its plant manager saying they are shutting down for 4 days because of a small valve problem.

I dont support some choices they make on maintenance but thats industry and economics, even if people are in danger. sad really when they make a bad decision and people die.

I work in this field and know how it works.

[StinkyBush]

09:47 PM on 06/08/2010

I can't wait for BP to deny claims by claiming it was not their oil that caused a person's loss.