A fire still burns Wednesday in Perot Bay in Lafourche Parish, La., after a tugboat and barge hit a gas pipeline Tuesday evening about 30 miles south of New Orleans.
The Coast Guard sprayed water to keep the oil-laden barge cool Wednesday while waiting for the huge fire nearby to burn itself out.
The Coast Guard said pipeline owner Chevron shut off the flow of gas to the area, but what’s left in the 19-mile section of pipeline could fuel the fire until today or later.
Petty Officer William Colclaugh said Chevron began a process Wednesday to inject nitrogen gas into the pipeline in hopes of extinguishing the blaze, but it was unclear how soon that might affect the fire. At the accident site, water was being sprayed on the barge from a safe distance to keep its 92,000-gallon crude oil cargo from igniting.
— The Associated Press
