NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A gas pipeline continued burning south of New Orleans on Wednesday, hours after it was hit by a tugboat pushing an oil barge, but authorities said the barge itself did not appear to be leaking its cargo of oil.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Russ Bowen said that spots of oil sheen were visible over a mile-long area near the accident site at Bayou Perot, a marshy area about 30 miles south of New Orleans, but that the barge itself appeared intact.
No evacuations were ordered in the sparsely populated area.
Four people aboard the tug Shanon E. Settoon were injured in Tuesday night’s accident, one severely.
The pipeline carries liquefied petroleum gas. Its owner, Chevron, isolated the segment, and Cmdr. Bowen said what was left in the pipeline would be allowed to burn itself out.
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