MONTREAL, July 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – An oil platform off the Canadian island
of Newfoundland spilled nearly 3,200 gallons of an oil-water mix into the
Atlantic Ocean, and efforts were underway to minimize the environmental
impact, ExxonMobil said Thursday.
The spill occurred a day earlier during “routine activities related to
removing water” from a platform storage cell, the American oil giant said
earlier.
“The estimated volume of oil released from the Hibernia platform was 75
barrels of oil, equivalent to approximately 12,000 liters (3,170 gallons),”
according to aerial surveillance, the Hibernia Management and Development
Company (HMDC) said in a statement released by ExxonMobil.
That area of the North Atlantic is rich in marine life, including species
of whales, but HMDC said “no wildlife has been observed in the area” by
specialists who were sent out.
“We’re disappointed the discharge occurred, but we are working diligently
to minimize impacts on the environment,” the statement quoted Scott Sandlin,
HMDC’s president, as saying.
On Wednesday the company said it temporarily shut the oil platform after
discovering the oil-water spill into the ocean.
It was using a range of clean-up measures including a boom-type system
deployed over the side of a vessel, assisted by a skimmer.
HMDC said it was monitoring a sheen on the ocean surface with an
approximate radius of three nautical miles (3.5 miles, 5.6 kilometers), about
204 miles east of St John’s Newfoundland.
“Vessels have been tasked with monitoring and clean-up of the sheen and
requests that all mariners keep a 10 nautical mile berth from this area,” it
said.
Hibernia — which opened for production in 1997 and is located about 196
miles east of St John’s — is jointly owned by Chevron, Suncor and Equinor
(formerly Statoil) in addition to ExxonMobil, which holds the majority share.
The oil deposit below Hibernia — accessed via underwater drilling — is
estimated to contain more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil.