Tug Vessel Hits Abandoned Gas Well in Barataria Waterway
July 28th, 2010

Via: WWLTV:

The Coast Guard and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office are maintaining a two mile safety perimeter around a damaged wellhead in the Barataria Waterway south of New Orleans.

A mix of natural gas, contaminated water and light crude oil is spewing 100 feet in the air.

According to the Coast Guard, the tug vessel Pere Ana C while pushing a dredge barge struck the abandoned wellhead around one Tuesday morning.

“The issue for the region right now is we have gas coming out of an uncontrolled well head,” said Coast Guard Captain John Arenstam. “We don’t want to introduce into the region is an ignition source.”

The accident happened halfway between Lafitte and Grand Isle, near the very same water polluted by the BP oil spill.

The well belongs to the now defunct Cedyco Corporation of Houston, Texas. It’s one of the many so called “orphaned wells-heads” spread across Barataria Bay.