CounterSpill

Oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico owned by Taylor Energy Co. have spilled 20 to 100 times the amount reported by the Coast Guard, according to independent oil spill monitoring group Skytruth. 

In its Cumulative Spill Report, the organization claims more than 251,000 gallons of crude oil have leaked from Taylor Energy's wells over the past seven years. The Coast Guard has said only 12,700 gallons have spilled from those wells. 

Skytruth's Paul Woods told the Alabama Press-Register the findings are proof of the Coast Guard's underreporting and the dangers of oil companies reporting spillage themselves. 

"We think this points to a systematic underreporting by the Coast Guard of small and medium spills. It also shows the problem with allowing the polluter to report how much they’ve spilled," Woods said. "Just because the sea is too rough for a sheen to form doesn’t mean the well quit leaking that day. How can the public gauge the risk of drilling if a spill reported as 12,000 gallons is actually many times larger?"

Skytruth measured the oil by monitoring changes in satellite images of Gulf waters. The Coast Guard's reports, on the other hand, were largely dependent on studies conducted by the oil company's representatives.  

According to the Times-Picayune, the wells continue to leak even though visible oil scheens have been regularly reported to the Coast Guard's National Response Center since 2004.

As a result, the Waterkeeper Alliance, along with other environmental groups, filled a lawsuit against Taylor Energy under the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which allow citizens to take companies to court if the citizens believe federal laws are being ignored. 

"The plaintiffs filed suit to stop the spill and lift the veil of secrecy surrounding Taylor Oil’s seven-year long response and recovery operation," said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance, in a statement. "Neither the government nor Taylor will answer basic questions related to the spill response, citing privacy concerns."

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Correction: An earlier version of this article mentioned that the wells still "operate." Although they are still leaking, they are not being used by the oil companies as they were destroyed by storms in 2004.