Minimal impact from well blowout

No one was injured and no evacuation was needed after a land-based oil well operated by Elysium Jenning, LLC blew out in Golden Meadow Thursday morning near Boudreaux’s Condeauxs.

Louisiana State Police, Hazmat and the Department of Environmental Quality continue to investigate the blowout, which occurred when Elysium Jenning personnel encountered a gas pocket in the process of cleaning sand out of the well, said LSP Master Trooper Bryan Zeringue.

Police closed a segment of La. Highway 3235 from Oakridge Drive to Texas Street to all traffic for two hours as oil covering a 400-foot stretch of the highway was combated with sand. Traffic was diverted to La. Highway 1.

The well, which blew out at 9:09 Thursday morning, was shut down by 9:45, Sgt. Lesley Hill with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

The highway was reopened to traffic shortly after noon.

LPSO responded to the scene to assist Golden Meadow police with diverting traffic until state police arrived.

The oil that gushed out of the well was blown over the highway and away from Boudreaux’s Condeauxs, the only residential structure in the area, Hill said.

“There is some oil left in some trees nearby that blew into some trees and into a ditch, but they’ve already contained that so it does not spread into surrounding waterways,” Hill said.

Community Bank, located near Oakridge Drive and Hwy. 3235, was not impacted by the blowout. “The traffic is actually stopped right before us, so our customers are still able to get here,” said Daniall Adams, a bank employee. “It’s more or less just to have someone clean up that’s taking the longest [to re-open the highway].”