Dixon Bay oil well failure, Dixon Bay , Louisiana. Photo courtesy of NOAA, 1995.

Date of incident: January 12, 1995.

Location: Dixon Bay, Louisiana.

Trustees:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• State of Louisiana
• U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)

Case status: Settled February 16, 1996.

Overview: On January 12, 1995, a wellhead at an inactive Chevron USA well located in Dixon Bay failed and released a mixture of crude oil, natural gas, and production water for more than 31 hours. Although Chevron responded to minimize the impact of the release, attempts to contain and recover the oil were largely unsuccessful due to inclement weather. NOAA worked with cotrustees to conduct the damage assessment and found that the spill's major impact was to intertidal marshes in Dixon Bay. The spill also affected marine and estuarine bottom-dwelling species, birds, and the water column. Because of the spill's size and impact, the trustees performed an ecological analysis to determine the scale of wetlands creation that would be necessary to compensate for injuries; during this time, the trustees also attempted to minimize both the cost and duration of the assessment so that restoration could begin as soon as possible.