WASHINGTON — A decade-old oil leak where an offshore platform toppled during a hurricane could continue spilling crude into the Gulf of Mexico for a century or more if left unchecked, according to government estimates obtained by the Associated Press that provide new details about the scope of the problem.
Taylor Energy Co., which owned the platform and a cluster of oil wells, has played down the extent and environmental impact of the leak. The company also maintains nothing can be done to completely eliminate the chronic oil slicks that often stretch for miles off the coast of Louisiana.
Taylor has tried to broker a deal with the government to resolve its financial obligations for the leak, but authorities have rebuffed those overtures and have ordered additional work by the company, according to Justice Department officials who were not authorized to comment publicly by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Federal regulators suspect oil is still leaking from at least one of 25 wells buried under mounds of sediment from an underwater mudslide triggered by waves whipped up by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
An AP investigation last month revealed evidence that the leak is far worse than Taylor, or the government, has publicly reported.
The AP's review of more than 2,300 Coast Guard pollution reports since 2008 showed a dramatic spike in sheen sizes and oil volumes since Sept. 1, 2014.