LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — Lafourche Parish officials have now released the amount of crude oil that spilled over the weekend.
820 barrels, or 34,440 gallons, are estimated to have been lost.
“It’s about two residential swimming pools of product. And again, I want to stress that not all of that made it to Bayou Lafourche. A lot of that, about half of that, was contained inside the facility. So, we’re really looking at about a swimming pool worth of product that made it into the bayou," Parish President Archie Chaisson said.
The source of the leak is Crescent Midstream. Chaisson said the Raceland facility is a hub that sends crude oil from offshore rigs to refineries in other parishes. Chaisson said two smaller tanks on the property most likely caused the issue.
“We do know that they had some tanks inside their berm, and there was some type of failure there that allowed the release of the product," Chaisson said.
The oil leaked from the facility into a drainage ditch that connects to Bayou Lafourche. The unified command overseeing the cleanup is still investigating how exactly the oil escaped, Chaisson said. The unified command includes national, state and local representatives, including the EPA, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, Lafourche Parish and Crescent Midstream.
On Monday, Chaisson got a bird's eye view of the spill from a helicopter with the company's CEO.
“It speaks to the magnitude of the situation that their CEO came in all the way the way from Houston. They understand the sensitivity of the situation since it’s our drinking water source, but just the cultural heritage that we have here," Chaisson said.
Precautionary booms were placed near the water intake and reservoir at the Lafourche Water Department, and it's being monitored 24/7, Chaisson said.
“LDH was in the plant today working on some sample to further prove that the water was safe to drink," Chaisson said, "And as I’ve told everybody today, I made my coffee and took my medicine with it today, so it’s working out pretty well.”
The parish is still working on a cleanup timeline.