The Coast Guard says natural gas is leaking from a well at a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico 74 miles southwest of Port Fourchon, La.
Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash says the well is not spewing, but a rainbow sheen four miles wide and three-quarters of a mile long was spotted in an aerial survey Tuesday.
The platform owner was identified as Energy Resources Technology Gulf of Mexico LLC. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Coast Guard says a crew was working Monday night to temporarily plug the well when workers lost control. Two other wells on the platform were closed off. No one was hurt.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is working with the owners to plug the well.