MOORINGSPORT, La. (KTBS) –Â Raw oil is coating around a four mile section of Tete Bayou in Caddo Parish after a major spill Monday, around 8 AM.
It happened just southwest of Mooringsport. Three families have been displaced because of the environmental disaster. The burst oil pipe belongs to Sunoco Logistics, which says the exact cause of the spill is still under investigation.
Sunoco faces a long cleanup. The company estimates for now that around 4,000 thousand barrels worth of oil poured from the pipe, which carries oil from Texas to Ohio.
At a press conference Saturday, it was announced around 1,900 barrels have already been cleaned up so far. Louisiana State Police say the three families were not forced out but asked to leave because of the oil’s fumes. Sunoco says its paying their expenses, but dozens of animals have died, mostly fish and reptiles.
Sunoco insists no oil reached Caddo Lake, a major source of drinking water for thousands. It’s used cloth like buoys along the bayou to keep the oil from flowing into the lake. The EPA confirms the lake hasn’t been contaminated.
“We’ve had reconnaissance on the spill pathway by foot, by boat and by air,” Bill Rhotenberry, area EPA investigator, said. “The oil has not reached the lake. The oil is approximately four tenths to five tenths of a mile upstream.”
Sunoco expects it’ll take months to decontaminate the spill’s pathway. Soil underneath the oil will have to be removed after the oil is cleaned up. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is investigating the spill. Stick with KTBS as this story develops.