Divers identify broken pipeline as source of Gulf oil spill

By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Divers at the site of an ongoing oil spill that appeared in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida have identified the apparent source as a one-foot diameter pipeline displaced from a trench on the ocean floor and broken open. The Houston-based company currently paying for the cleanup, Talos Energy, said in a statement that the busted pipeline does not belong to them. Two 95-foot response vessels remain on location at the spill attempting to contain and recover oil from the water’s surface. The Associated Press first reported Wednesday that aerial photos showed a miles-long brown and black oil slick spreading about two miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.