Large oil spill in Gulf of Mexico after Ida, cleanup underway | Al Jazeera

The United States Coast Guard says cleanup crews are responding to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida, while a private team of divers are set to descend underwater to locate the source of the leak.
Lieutenant John Edwards, spokesman for the US Coast Guard, said on Saturday that the Clean Gulf Associates, a nonprofit oil-spill response cooperative, has placed a containment boom in the area to prevent the further spread of the oil.

The company’s vessels are also running skimmers that can remove oil from the water, though only about 42 gallons (about 160 liters) has been removed so far.

The spill, which is ongoing, appears to be coming from a source underwater at an offshore drilling lease about two miles (three kilometers) south of Port Fourchon in  Louisiana, an oil and gas hub.

So far, the growing spill appears to have remained out to sea and has not impacted the Louisiana shoreline.

There is not yet any estimate for how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images reviewed by the Associated Press news agency on Saturday appeared to show the slick drifting more than 12 miles (19 kilometers) eastward along the Gulf coast....