Marine Safety Office New Orleans

U.S. Coast Guard

Press Release

Date: Sept. 23, 2004

Contact:  PA3 Tara Mitchell
(504) 589-6287

MARINE SAFETY OFFICE WORKS WITH AGENCIES IN OIL SPILL CLEAN UP

NEW ORLEANS - Coast Guard Marine Safety Office New Orleans, along with other state and federal officials, are working today to clean up an oil spill near Raphael Pass, La.

Approximately 17,000 gallons of crude oil were released from a Gulf  Production, Inc.storage tank, damaged by Hurricane Ivan, located in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

MSO, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, NOAA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality officials have determined that the safest way to remove the oil from the marshes is to cut the plantlife in the contaminated area and then clean up the oil. The recovery is estimated to take at least seven days.

There have been no reports of injury to animals as a result of this spill.

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