More Than 1,400 Oil Wells Were in Laura's Path, but Spills and Other Damage May Not Be Known for Days

By Tristan Baurick, The New Orleans Advocate

27 August 20

 

urricane Laura plowed through a corner of Louisiana loaded with oil and gas wells, pipelines, storage tanks and other infrastructure that could potentially cause thousands of small and large environmental disasters – the extent of which may not be known for days or weeks.

About 1,400 active oil wells are crowded in Laura’s storm surge path. If hit hard enough, the wells, many of which are decades old and may no longer be protected by the state’s receding shoreline, could trigger several oil spills in coastal waters and marshes.

“I have a lump in my throat thinking about them,” said Bob Bea, a specialist in catastrophic risk management and former well manager for Shell. “I’m not at all confident these systems will, when hit with a severe hurricane, function adequately.”

Laura made landfall in Cameron Parish at around 1 a.m. Thursday as a Category 4 storm, bringing with it 150 mph winds, pounding rain and devastating storm surge that could press several miles inland.

Also in harm’s way are dozens of offshore oil platforms, pipelines, large liquefied natural gas complexes in Cameron Parish and a host of petrochemical plants and refineries in the Lake Charles area. Several heavily contaminated sites managed by the federal Superfund cleanup program could be damaged or flooded, as many were in Texas during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Federal and state emergency responders say spill inspections and cleanup will likely be delayed as all resources are focused on search and rescue operations and other critical post-hurricane needs.

“We have assets staged and we’re ready to respond for search and rescue,” said Sydney Phoenix, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard, which is the main response agency for marine oil spills. “That’s our priority for the next 72 hours. When that calms down, we’ll send (spill responders) if pollution occurs.”

State Department of Natural Resources officials say few companies were able to heed warnings to secure wells and other infrastructure in Laura’s crosshairs.

“If we had a couple months, there’d be enough time,” DNR spokesman Patrick Courreges said. “(Oil companies) are doing what they can but there’s no way to shut them all down.”

Among the precautions DNR requested were pumping out oil tanks and filling them with water and marking pipelines that could be submerged under high water.

Hurricane Katrina struck a similar trove of coastal oil and gas infrastructure in 2005. A Category 3 storm, Katrina made landfall with less force than Laura but managed to damage an estimated 100 drilling platforms, 400 pipelines and caused about 540 spills in Louisiana waters. Added up, the spills likely released roughly 11 million gallons – the same amount as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.

Fifteen years later, no environmental damage assessments have been completed and no companies were fined.

The oil and gas industry says past storms have prepared it for this one.

“Building upon lessons learned from past storms, like Katrina, Ike and Rita, companies are continuously improving preparation and response plans to lessen storm impacts and shorten the time it takes to recover,” the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association said in a statement Wednesday. “Plans are constantly updated and improved year-round, not just when a storm is at our doorstep. Regular planning meetings are held with local, state and federal government before and after hurricane season.”

Bea is doubtful. The industry and its regulators are plagued by overconfidence before storms and indifference after them, he said.

“When it comes to how we manage our platforms, pipelines, and wells, we here in the U.S. are not world leaders in risk management," he said. "We’re not Canada or Norway. We’re not even a Third World country.”

The state has struggled to keep up with the rapid rise of wells that have been abandoned by their owners and are now the responsibility of DNR. According to a 2014 report by state auditors, DNR wasn’t properly regulating and inspecting these ‘orphan’ wells or charging fees that could cover plugging and cleanup costs.

A followup audit in April indicated DNR has made progress, but estimated the number of orphaned wells had increased by 50%. The new audit also noted that DNR is behind in forcing operators to plug disused wells that are yet to be abandoned, and has failed to conduct required re-inspections of dozens of out-of-compliance wells.

Louisiana has documented nearly 4,300 orphan wells, and the number is expected to rise as more companies shut down wells due to low oil prices and a faltering economy.

DNR has said its regulatory challenges are due in part to the large number of inactive or low-production wells, many of which are owned by small, cash-strapped companies.

Bea likened these wells to used cars. When new, they worked well, but each successive owner spends less on upkeep while trying to squeeze out as much value as they can.

“If each new owner is more tight-fisted, they don’t change the oil, the filter, the wheel bearings, and pretty soon the wheels fall off,” he said. “It’s not so much the hurricane, it’s us, and how we maintain these wells.”