Oil spill clean-up continues in Bayou Lafourche

The Unified Command continues to respond to a release of crude oil in Bayou Lafourche near Raceland, Louisiana. The following updates were provided during the Unified Command’s incident briefing this evening:

• No injuries have been reported.

• The following assets have been deployed today in and near Bayou Lafourche near Raceland, Louisiana:

o 54 workers on location

o 8 total vessels including 2 Marco skimmers

o 6 vacuum trucks

o 2,800 feet of boom deployed

• A hotline has been established for the public’s use should any oiled wildlife be discovered in the area. That telephone number is (832) 514-9663. The public is advised to avoid trying to capture any oiled wildlife in the area. Report the location and description of the impacted wildlife to the published number and trained wildlife personnel will be deployed to investigate and capture any wildlife that may be necessary.

• The estimated volume of the spill is undetermined at this time.

• Air monitoring has been conducted for several hours on both sides of the bayou in the affected area. Results have been well below actionable levels. Air monitoring will continue overnight out of an abundance of caution.

• Public water continues to be safe to drink. An advisory to conserve water has been issued by Lafourche Parish Water District No. 1 out of an abundance of caution while the parish awaits any specific requirements from the Louisiana Department of Health. This advisory covers customers south of the La. Hwy. 182 bridge in Lafourche Parish.

• Parish President Archie Chaisson issued an Emergency Declaration Order this evening, which allows more resources to be deployed in support of the incident.

• Clean-up operations will pause overnight due to safety concerns for workers. However, operations will begin again shortly after daybreak tomorrow morning.