New estimates put on the 14 year oil leak at the Taylor Energy Co. well could be as much as 29,000 gallons of oil per day.
MC-20 Saratoga platform was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan on Sept. 15, 2004. The storm triggered an underwater mudslide that snapped the 550-foot-tall platform’s legs and buried a cluster of wells. Taylor plugged some of the 28 wells and added three containment domes.
Several environmental groups have for years disputed Taylor’s claim that its multimillion-dollar containment effort had limited pollution to just a trickle.