The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday said it has deployed three skimming vessels and five response vessels to help clean up a spill of thousands of gallons of oil spilled into Terrebonne Bay, Louisiana when a Hilcorp oil tank platform collapsed.

Hilcorp estimated that around 13,944 gallons of crude oil entered the water, the Coast Guard said, adding that there was no reported impact to wildlife.

The Coast Guard said it has deployed 6,200 feet of containment boom along with the vessels.

It said the platform was removed as of Aug. 8, and the exact cause of the spill remained under investigation.

“Automated systems … secured the facility and alerted operators to the collapsed tank. The platform remains secured,” a United States Coast Guard spokesperson said.

“The collapsed tank has been removed as of 7:30 p.m.” Central time on Aug. 8.

According to officials, the spill occurred nearly a week after 4,000 gallons of oil were dumped into a swamp near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the WCC Energy Group LLC was moving oil in a storage tank, the New York Daily News reported.

The Coast Guard was still overseeing removal efforts of that spill.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Deep Vakil and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Gregorio)