Ivan Causes Oil Pipeline Leaks in Gulf

Environmentalists said Ivan, and the threat of busier hurricane seasons to become more common, demonstrated that oil and gas exploration in the Gulf is dirty and dangerous to the marine ecosystem.

"If this becomes the norm, more and more hurricanes, are they prepared? Have these rigs been hardened? Was it designed with a different reality in mind?" said Kert Davies, research director at Greenpeace USA.

The Minerals Management Service has asked companies to inspect oil rigs and pipelines in the path of Ivan for damage. That work, much of it done underwater, may take months to finish.

No public announcement was made about the oil spill near Venice. Officials said there is no requirement to notify the public about an oil spill.

In waters near Louisiana's coast, all near Venice, four oil spills were being worked, Guidry said. He said there was no estimate how much oil leaked out.

"That oil is floating around all over there and everyone is picking it up," he said.

He called the leak at the Shell pipeline a medium spill. He said it was broken in two by wave action that made the pipeline look "like skip rope."

He said there were reports of "some oiled pelicans." He added: "But they're not that heavily oiled."