Another Gulf oil spill, but this time it's Shell and it's been contained

This article was originally published on Examiner.com, (from May 13, 2016)

It was only a matter of time before another oil spill would be reported here. The amount of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has spiked in recent years, despite the environmental laaughter to the region following BP's 2010 Macondo disaster.

Yesterday it was reported that Shell had a massive leak some 90 miles south of Timbalier Island, and an estimated 88,200 gallons had been released from their Brutus platform. Apparently, the leak was contained and no one was injured, but obviously all the facts aren't in.

In April of 2010, BP's spill began to gush following a tragic accident that killed 11 rig workers off the Lousiana coast. It took 87 days to cap that well, and cleanup efforts continued for years. Corexit was dispersed, killing sea life and sickening Gulf residents.

Luckily, it appears Shell's incident is far less worrisome.

The U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile HC-144 Ocean Sentry air crew was sent to conduct an aerial assessment.

Shell said in a statement that, "The likely cause of the sheen is a release of oil from a subsea infrastructure and in response, we have isolated the leak and shut in production."

The company also said that, "No release is acceptable, and safety remains our priority as we respond to this incident."

The Examiner will report more as more news comes in. PHOTO: Via Wikimedia Commons Images; June 8, 2012, by Catherine Hammond.