UPDATED: Hercules 265 Rig Blowout and Fire

July 24, 2013
UPDATE: On July 25, the well "bridged over" and the fire is now out. Hercules is expected to drill a relief well to completely kill the run-away well. See the most recent update from GMC member SkyTruth here. July 24, 2013 @ 3:58 pm - Around midday yesterday, (Tuesday, July 23)  a natural gas blowout occurred at a jackup drill rig, the Hercules 265, operating in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico…

Judge Denies Taylor Energy Motion to Dismiss Clean Water Act Violations Suit

July 23, 2013
New Orleans, LA - Yesterday, the judge in a lawsuit (Apalachicola Riverkeeper v. Taylor Energy Co. LLC) brought against Taylor Energy for a leaking oil well issued an order denying most of Taylor Energy's Motion to Dismiss and denied Taylor's Motion to Stay the lawsuit. The Clean Water Act lawsuit was brought by Apalachicola Riverkeeper, Louisiana Environmental Action Network on behalf of it's Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper program, and Waterkeeper Alliance in an effort to stop Taylor's…

Coast Guard Responding to Leaking Gas Well 44 miles from Louisiana Coast

July 10, 2013
Last Updated: 7/10/13 @ 2:32 PM EST July 10, 2013 - 12:54 pm: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced Tuesday they are responding to a loss of well control at Platform B in Ship Shoal Block 225. On July 9, USCG reported a 4-mile by 3/4 mile rainbow sheen in the Gulf (covering an area of 1,920 acres based on reported dimensions) around an oil and…

“Still leaking in Gulf” : Times-Picayune Reports on Perpetually Leaking Taylor Energy Site

July 2, 2013
SkyTruth - July 2, 2013 : Following a recent cluster of "conflicting reports" of oil-slicks observed around the wreckage of former Taylor Energy platform #23051, the Times - Picayune of New Orleans ran an article yesterday on the almost nine-year saga of ongoing pollution from the damaged wells. On June 18th and 20th, GMC member SkyTruth reported a larger than usual discrepancy between the reports from Taylor Energy's contractor who flies the site daily,…

New Atlas Highlights Damaged & Threatened Gulf Ecosystems

June 27, 2013
GMC - June 27, 2013: As the Gulf Coast continues to clean up from the largest accidental oil-spill on the planet, there are many important and sensitive ecosystems that have been damaged, or are threatened by future human activity.  To guide decision-makers planning restoration and preservation projects in the Gulf of Mexico, the Ocean Conservancy has released an atlas of this important ecosystem. This great resource contains a wealth of information about the…

GMC Members Vote to Update Consortium Guidelines and Principles

May 16, 2013
In April, Gulf Monitoring Consortium (GMC) welcomed Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) as the newest members of our integrated pollution monitoring and response alliance. These new partners are well-established environmental organizations who bring new expertise and local resources to help monitor and respond to pollution in and around the Gulf of Mexico.  To better reflect the capacities of our growing Consortium and identify the forms of pollution that we address, GMC…

House Democrats Find Little Change in Drilling Incidents/Violations: Offshore Safety Lapses Continue Three Years After BP Spill

May 13, 2013
A report issued by the Democrats of the House Committee on Natural Resources concluded that offshore drilling safety lapses continue even three years after the BP Spill in 2010. In a press release, Representative Ed Markey (D-5th District, MA), ranking member on the House Committee on Natural Resources said, “Oil and gas companies with the worst safety records in the Gulf before the BP disaster continue to spill oil, lose control of their…

Gulf Restoration Network & Louisiana Bucket Brigade Join GMC

April 13, 2013
The Gulf Monitoring Consortium (GMC) welcomes the Gulf Restoration Network and Louisiana Bucket Brigade as the newest partners in a collaborative effort to detect and respond to oil and petrochemical pollution in and around the Gulf of Mexico. Both the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) have been working with the Consortium for some time and we are pleased to announce their official membership in our cooperative effort. GRN and…

Bird’s Eye View: Nasty New Leaks , GRN Joins Forces

March 13, 2013
  GRN has been engaged in systematic monitoring and reporting of oil pollution in the Gulf of  Mexico since April of 2010, with hundreds of field monitoring trips by air, sea and land. As such, GRN was invited to become a member of the Gulf Monitoring Consortium (GMC) which we formally joined in January, 2013. The GMC is a rapid response alliance that collects, analyzes and publishes images and other information from space, sea…

Wellhead allision near Port Sulphur, LA causes geyser-like discharge

February 27, 2013
We first heard about this incident on the SkyTruth Alerts System this morning, where a vessel ran into an inactive well-head in marshes near Port Sulphur, Louisiana. And now we've got a better understanding of exactly what damage was caused by this allision. ABC news reported that this incident happened at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evening and that the Coast Guard has contracted a clean up company to remove the substance, reported to be…