Ivan Causes Oil Pipeline Leaks in Gulf

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Hurricane Ivan punched holes in the network of oil and natural gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil and gas to leak out at numerous points along the thousands of miles of pipelines.

By Wednesday, nearly two weeks after Ivan hit the Gulf Coast, the Minerals Management Service and the U.S. Coast Guard were unsure how many oil spills were caused by cracked pipelines. Most of the pipelines in the hurricane path were shut in and being inspected.

In one spill at a Shell Oil Co. pipeline about 30 miles east of Venice, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, crews had gathered about 101,000 gallons of water polluted with oil.

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