The Gulf Monitoring Consortium has been investigating a reported spill near Venice, Louisiana that’s been in the news since June 8. The latest: oil collected by scientists for National Wildlife Federation and analyzed by Dr. Ed Overton at Lousiana State University reveals that this is not old, remobilized oil from the BP spill last year; it is relatively fresh crude oil that fits the geochemical profile of “South Louisiana Crude” (not the same as BP’s Macondo oil). The Coast Guard is also investigating, and has a cleanup contractor onsite.

But the source of this oil remains a mystery.  MODIS satellite images for the past week haven’t revealed anything useful yet.

At SkyTruth we’re systematically mapping the official pollution reports collected by the National Response Center for the entire US, onshore and off (polluters are required by law to report their pollution immediately to the NRC; passers-by are encouraged, but not required, to report any signs of pollution). This map shows all of the NRC reports in the area since May 29.  You can use the report numbers to look them up on the NRC’s website.