Pipeline near New Orleans smashed and killed 32 Birds, 2300 Fish, and 100 other Animals

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US federal records have confirmed that a critically rotten pipeline smashed and squandered at least 300 thousand gallons of diesel fuel just outside New Orleans. The state officials said most of the fuel drained into 2 artificial ponds (borrow pits) and thousands of fish, birds, and other animals were killed. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries issued a statement and said the spill killed 2,300 fish and more than 100 other animals, including 39 snakes, 32 birds, a few eels, and a blue crab. At least 130 animals including 72 alligators, 23 birds, 20 snakes, and 12 turtles were badly impacted by the spill and captured for rehabilitation. A news channel reported that Chalmette Refining is working with Wildlife and Fisheries to clean, examine, and treat impacted wildlife.

However, there were no reports of alligator deaths, but many appear to be ill from diesel exposure. The Wildlife and Fisheries’ oil spill response coordinator, Laura Carver said, “We weren’t expecting to find so many alligators in that one area. Thankfully they’re pretty sturdy animals”. The owner of the pipeline said 315,000 gallons of fuel with some water mixed in had been skimmed and recovered, primarily from the ponds, and cleanup work is ongoing. The spill from the 16-inch-diameter line operated by Collins Pipeline Co. was discovered December 27 near a levee in St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans. The spill had not been previously publicly reported. An inspection of the 42-year-old Meraux Pipeline more than a year earlier, in October 2020, revealed external corrosion along a 22-foot section of pipe at the same site as the spill.

It is important that the pipeline had apparently lost 75% of its metal where the corrosion was worst, which would have required immediate repair. But work was delayed and the line continued operating after a second inspection concluded the corrosion was not bad enough to require immediate repair under federal rules. The spilled fuel also contaminated soil in an environmentally sensitive area near the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a closed canal. However, diesel is a highly toxic petroleum product that can kill fish and plants that come into direct contact with it. Fuel from small spills can evaporate or disperse naturally in just a couple of days but larger spills can take months to degrade. Collins Pipeline is a subsidiary of Parsippany, New Jersey-based PBF Energy Inc., which owns six petroleum refineries in the US including the Chalmette Refinery in St. Bernard Parish.