SaltyCajun.com - Apache asking state, feds to let it keep Pickets standing

The company that owns the big platform in Ship Shoal 26, colloquially known as the Pickets, is in discussions with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and federal agencies to leave the structure standing.

Patrick Cassidy, director of public and international affairs for Apache Corporation, said the company is in the process of plugging the wells and cleaning equipment on the platform in preparation for a removal this summer.

NOLA.com first reported that the Pickets was slated for removal on Friday.

Cassidy said the law leaves his company little choice.

"Federal rules mandate the removal of platforms when production ceases and the leases expire," he said.

Still, the company recognizes the value of the structure to anglers, and it's trying to determine if some other arrangement might be made.

"We are entering discussions with state and federal agencies to determine if there are alternatives," Cassidy said.

Apache has converted 58 platforms to artificial reefs through the state's rigs-to-reefs program, and 23 additional platforms are slated to become artificial reefs.

Entering the Pickets into the program is problematic because the water there is only 10 feet deep.

"Water depth limitations at Ship Shoal 26 won't allow for a typical rigs-to-reefs donation of these platforms," Cassidy said.

For more than two decades, the Pickets has been a spring and summer hotspot for anglers launching out of Cocodrie, Dulac and Dularge. Its many legs, pilings and wellheads attract baitfish and predators like speckled trout and redfish.