Can you believe a staggering 1.1 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, all because of a shocking oversight?
At a Glance
- A new NTSB report finds a 1.1-million-gallon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a preventable disaster.
- Operators for pipeline owner Third Coast Infrastructure LLC failed to shut down the leaking pipeline for nearly 13 hours after a problem was detected.
- The NTSB also found the company failed to properly assess the risk of underwater landslides, which likely caused the rupture.
- The November 2023 spill caused an estimated $30 million in damages, not including the environmental toll.
A 13-Hour Delay Turned Leak into Disaster
A new federal investigation has concluded that a massive 1.1-million-gallon crude oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in November 2023 was a preventable disaster caused by a “colossal dereliction of duties.” In a damning report released Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the pipeline’s operators failed to shut it down for nearly 13 hours after their own data first indicated a catastrophic failure.
This staggering delay allowed what could have been a manageable leak to become one of the largest spills in the Gulf in recent years . The pipeline, part of the Main Pass Oil Gathering system owned by Third Coast Infrastructure LLC, is located off the coast of Louisiana.
Ignoring an “Existential Threat”
The NTSB report determined that the pipeline was likely damaged and moved by an underwater landslide. The investigation found that Third Coast had failed to adequately assess or address these known geological hazards, despite their prevalence in the region.
“In the years leading up to the accident, Third Coast missed several opportunities to evaluate how geohazards may threaten the integrity of their pipeline,” the NTSB report stated, according to The Washington Times. “Information widely available within the industry suggested that land movement related to hurricane activity was a threat to pipelines in the Gulf.”
A Colossal Dereliction of Duty
The timeline of the incident detailed by the NTSB is particularly damning. An operator noticed a massive pressure drop in the pipeline—a clear sign of a major rupture—just 45 minutes into his shift. Yet, for reasons that remain unclear, the pipeline continued to operate for nearly 13 more hours, spewing crude oil into the Gulf.
The NTSB report, highlighted by local outlet WWNO, places the blame squarely on the company’s failure to act on clear warning signs. The spill has resulted in an estimated $30 million in cleanup costs and damages, a figure that does not include the unquantifiable devastation to marine life and coastal ecosystems. The findings have led to renewed calls for greater corporate accountability and stricter oversight of offshore pipeline operations.
