Unified Command Coordinates Spill Response Near Bayou Perot

The Unified Command has reopened the Intracoastal Waterway near Bayou Perot, La., after a portion of ICW was closed due to a damaged oil wellhead that started spilling sweet crude oil into the bayou early Sunday. The ICW was closed early Sunday between mile markers 19 and 21 when oil from the damaged wellhead entered a portion of the ICW. Cleanup crews have contained and removed the oil from the ICW, and the unified command has reopened the waterway to all vessel traffic.

More than 25,000 feet of oil containment boom has been deployed around the wellhead in Bayou Perot and along the neighboring shoreline. Most of the oil from the wellhead has been contained within Bayou Perot and Little Lake, and oil has been removed from the ICW and Lake Salvador. The Unified Command is positioning crews and equipment, and operations are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning to secure the wellhead.