Bayou Lafourche reopens to boat traffic in oil spill area

Animals covered with crude oil from a leak into Bayou Lafourche were returned to the waterway Aug. 13, 2024, after being cleaned and rehabilitated. (Lafourche Parish Gov't photos)

An 8-mile stretch of Bayou Lafourche where thousands of barrels of crude oil spilled last month has been reopened to boat traffic, although the cleanup along the waterway continues.

More than 34,000 gallons of crude oil leaked July 27 from the Crescent Midstream facility in Raceland after a valve was accidentally left open. A considerable portion of the crude flowed into stormwater canals and into the bayou, leading officials to close the portion between Raceland and Lockport.

The bayou serves as the drinking water supply for a four-parish area, but service was never interrupted for residents in the spill-impacted area past a conservation advisory for a few days immediately after the accident. Cleanup crews found more than 20 animals, mostly salamanders, that died in the spill area. More than two dozen other creatures were rescued, cleaned and rehabilitated, and 24 were returned to the bayou Tuesday, according to Lafourche Parish Government.

The leak remains under federal investigation, with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration handling the probe. Immediately after the spill, PHMSA ordered the closure of two Crescent Midstream pipelines that feed into the Raceland facility as well as refineries along the Mississippi River.

Crescent Midstream spokesman Michael Smith confirmed the pipelines were still closed as of Wednesday morning.

The reopened section of the bayou has been declared a no-wake zone, which will force boaters to travel slowly while crews collect remaining oil from booms in the water.

More than 1,800 barrels of oil-tainted water have been removed from Bayou Lafourche, according to the latest information from the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency. The volume far exceeds the amount of the crude leak because the oil is later separated from water.

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