According to the Coast Guard the number of reported oil and chemical spills linked to Hurricane Ida grew from 350 on Monday to more than 2,000 by Wednesday.
Although less than half of the spills reported to the National Response Center have been investigated, the number of incidents eventually confirmed seems likely to top the 540 individual spill reported after Hurricane Katrina.
Ida blasted through a region full of oil pipelines and wells, refineries and other industrial infrastructure, much of it in or near the Gulf of Mexico.
The Coast Guard set up a pollution response team in Baton Rouge after officials were flooded with reports of oil spills in Ida’s wake. Coast Guard personnel are checking on reported spills via boat and airplane.
Most of the pollution incidents are oil spills in the Gulf or Mississippi River.
