18,000 Gallons of Oil Spill Into Louisiana Wildlife Refuge

Avocets in Louisiana's Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Donna A. Dewhurst/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From Treehugger: Officials have reported that an estimated 18,000 gallons of crude oil have spilled into a Louisiana wildlife refuge 60 miles outside of New Orleans. The rupture occurred in a Chevron oil pipeline, and an evaluation of the damage to the ecosystem is underway. What's known is that the spill has created a 5 mile long slick, and occurred in a remote area so difficult to access that caretakers weren't able to reach it.

The afflicted area is the Delta National Wildlife Refuge, and it's known for being home to a number of bird rookeries, and provides migrating birds a place to rest. It's also a permanent home to a number of species of water fowl, including many ducks. It covers a total of 49,000 acres of marshland...Read more on Treehugger.