Coast Guard collecting oil at site of 14-year-old Gulf leak

By The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard says a newly installed containment system is collecting oil at the site of a 14-year-old oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

A Coast Guard statement Thursday describes the installation of the subsea containment system as a “major milestone” in long-running efforts by the federal government to contain the leak.

Taylor Energy Co. ultimately is responsible for ending the leak at the site off Louisiana’s coast where one of its oil platforms toppled during a 2004 hurricane.

In December, the New Orleans-based company sued to challenge a Coast Guard official’s order to design and install a new system to capture and remove the crude before it forms slicks that often stretch for miles.

Coast Guard Capt. Kristi Luttrell says the chronic sheen has become “barely visible.”

The Associated Press

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