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Shell spills 90,000 gallons of crude oil into Gulf of Mexico

The spill was first discovered on Thursday approximately 165 miles south-southwest of New Orleans.

Justin Carissimo
Friday 13 May 2016 09:40 EDT
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Oh, Shell.
Oh, Shell. ( Scott Barbour/Getty)

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Shell has spilled nearly 90,000 barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The spill was first discovered on Thursday approximately 165 miles south-southwest of New Orleans and was contained by Friday morning, the Coast Guard said. Two companies have been contracted for the cleanup job, NBC News reports.

Shell sent boats to clean the spill that leaked 2,100 barrels of oils into the Gulf of Mexico, and said that no one has been injured.

“The likely cause of the sheen is a release of oil from subsea infrastructure and in response, we have isolated the leak and shut-in production,” the company said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. “No release is acceptable, and safety remains our highest priority as we respond to this incident.”

The Coast Guard said that they’ll investigate the cause of the oil spill.

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