Wellhead Failure and Oil Spill; Turtle Bay, South LA
NOAA initial notification: “On 6 Nov. 2008, the USCG notified the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator of an oil spill in South Louisiana. A half inch nipple between the casing valve and check valve broke from an oil producing well resulting in oil flowing free from the wellhead. The source was […]”[1]
Latest included source report
Posted 19 Jan 2009
Latest source report
“There was no additional support requested by the USCG, and there was little follow up information provided by the USCG. It was reported that USCG was overseeing the cleanup This entry constitutes the Final (or Close Out) Report for this incident. Unfortunately, this is another case that was not fully followed up in a timely manner due to Hurricane Ike workload issues.” Current outcome is not independently verified by seahazards.[4]
NOAA report chronology
4 dated source records · 6 Nov 2008 to 19 Jan 2009NOAA incident record opened
Initial notification excerpt: “On 6 Nov. 2008, the USCG notified the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator of an oil spill in South Louisiana. A half inch nipple between the casing valve and check valve broke from an oil producing well resulting in oil flowing free from the wellhead. The source was secured at 0127 hrs (local time). The discharged amount is unknown, but suspected to be small since the well only produces 4 to 5 bbls per day.”
NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track
Initial incident area only. Dates are NOAA postings, not a vessel track. Playback advances every 5 seconds.
Milestone 1 of 4: 6 Nov 2008. NOAA incident record opened. NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track
NOAA incident record opened
Initial notification excerpt: “On 6 Nov. 2008, the USCG notified the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator of an oil spill in South Louisiana. A half inch nipple between the casing valve and check valve broke from an oil producing well resulting in oil flowing free from the wellhead. The source was secured at 0127 hrs (local time). The discharged amount is unknown, but suspected to be small since the well only produces 4 to 5 bbls per day.”
NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track (29.529°, -90.130°)
Initial Report
Source report excerpt: “On 6 Nov. 2008, the USCG notified the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator of an oil spill in South Louisiana. The position was reported as 29° 31’ 45” N Lat. 090° 07’ 47” W Long. This position places the incident in the Turtle Bay – Little Lake area. A half inch nipple between the casing valve and check valve broke from an oil producing well resulting in oil flowing free from the wellhead. The source was secured at 0127 hrs (local time). The discharged amount is unknown, but suspected to be small since the well only produces 4 to 5 bbls per day. The facility is currently boomed off. An OSRO has been hired, and have responded with three boats and two response trailers. The Spill […]”
Change in Wind
Source report excerpt: “Change in Wind The winds are expected to change from a S wind to a N wind on Friday. Any uncontained oil will be blown the opposite direction. The NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator recommended to the USCG the following. If the weather and safety allow, OSRO should make all effort to contain the oil with hard boom, and be prepared to recover the oil blown out by the wind change and tidal flow. The spill volume is relatively small, but this change of wind direction would transport the oil to the opposite side of Turtle Bay if not contained and recovered.”
Close Out Report
Source report excerpt: “There was no additional support requested by the USCG, and there was little follow up information provided by the USCG. It was reported that USCG was overseeing the cleanup This entry constitutes the Final (or Close Out) Report for this incident. Unfortunately, this is another case that was not fully followed up in a timely manner due to Hurricane Ike workload issues.”
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Details in the record
- Source record
- NOAA IncidentNews 7924[1]
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Automatically assembled from NOAA's incident record and substantive Public Affairs or Situation Update posts. Dates are NOAA posting dates, which can differ from when events happened or original reports were published. Excerpts retain the source's wording and uncertainty. This account does not independently establish the cause, current outcome or safety of the area. NOAA coverage is selective; missing updates do not mean nothing happened. The map shows one approximate incident area, not a vessel track.
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Original sources
Timeline updated 28 Sept 2026. New reports and changes to this NOAA incident are incorporated automatically; this is not a live incident feed.
- 1.Wellhead Failure and Oil Spill; Turtle Bay, South LA ↗NOAA Office of Response and Restoration · 6 Nov 2008
- 2.Initial Report ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 6 Nov 2008
- 3.Change in Wind ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 6 Nov 2008
- 4.Close Out Report ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 19 Jan 2009
Related records in our archive
Original source text, preserved separately from this account.
NOAAORR-7924 NOAA response record
Wellhead Failure and Oil Spill; Turtle Bay, South LA. Turtle Bay, South LA. 1. On 6 Nov. 2008, the USCG notified the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator of an oil spill in South Louisiana. A half inch nipple between the casing valve and check valve broke from an oil producing well resulting in oil flowing free from the wellhead. The source was secured at 0127 hrs (local time). The discharged amount is unknown, but suspected to be small since the well only produces 4 to 5 bbls per day. 2. THREAT: OIL. COMMODITY: CRUDE OIL. MAXIMUM POTENTIAL RELEASE: 210 GALLONS. 3. POSITION 29.529N 090.130W. NOAA INCIDENTNEWS 7924: https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/7924Open record and warning history →
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