Another Leaking Well in the Gulf

Authorities in Louisiana don't know how long it will take to cap a well struck by a vessel off the coast, as they tried Wednesday to minimize the damage from leaking oil and gas.

A Texas company called in to called in to cap the well, Wild Well Inc., is working through the night to evaluate the condition of the wellhead and decide how to secure it.

The abandoned well was hit early Tuesday. A tugboat was pushing a dredge barge when the dredger hit the wellhead around 1 a.m.

Since then the wellhead has been spewing a mixture of oil, natural gas, and water into Barataria Bay in southeastern Louisiana. The resulting sheen covers more than six square miles.

The well was once operated by Cedyco Corp. of Houston but was declared abandoned by the state in November 2008. But U.S and state officials say Cedyco still is responsible for it, and the company has hired Wild Well to secure it.

In addition, Environmental Safety and Health Inc., a company that cleans up spills, had been contracted for containment and cleanup.

It's unknown how fast oil and gas is spewing from the well. When it was in use, the well produced 33 barrels of oil a day.



Source: CNN