Cleanup of Offshore Oil Spill Underway

Cleanup crews were working to disperse more than 94,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled when the anchor of a submersible drilling rig ruptured a pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico about 120 miles south of New Orleans, the Coast Guard said. The accident Friday shut down the Poseidon Pipeline, operated by Equilon Pipeline Co., and a nearby drilling platform, authorities said. Chemical dispersants were being used to try to break up the 7-mile-long sheen and speed up natural degradation, authorities reported. Some residual oil in the damaged pipeline continued to seep out, they said. No information was available on when the pipeline would be repaired or how much crude normally moves through it.