[StBernard] Gas leak prompts brief evacuation in St. Bernard Parish

[Westley Annis]

Gas leak prompts brief evacuation in St. Bernard Parish

The Associated Press

TOCA, La.
A leak at a natural gas plant briefly closed down a two-mile stretch of a
nearby highway Monday morning.

A contractor excavating at the Southern Natural Gas Co. plant broke a 1-inch
pipeline connected to the emergency shutdown system, said Richard Wheatley,
spokesman for El Paso Corp., the parent company of Southern Natural Gas.

When the plant about 10 miles southeast of Chalmette shut down, gas in the
plant was released into the air, he said.

The evacuation was lifted within 75 minutes, said Capt. Mike Sanders,
spokesman for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office.

Sanders did not know if any businesses or homes were evacuated or how many
people live or work in the area. St. Bernard Parish was one of the worst
areas flooded by Hurricane Katrina, and fewer than 40 percent of its
residents have returned to the parish.


Wheatley said about 25 people work at the plant.

Sanders said he was originally told that nonessential plant workers were
evacuated, but learned later that they had gathered in one area for a
headcount.