State places moratorium on new oil, gas drilling near interstates

The Louisiana Office of Conservation announced a 120-day moratorium on drilling oil and gas wells within a quarter-mile of an interstate highway last week after Gov. Kathleen Blanco urged a review of policies after a blowout forced the closure of a 55-mile corridor linking Houston to New Orleans.

The moratorium on issuing new drilling permits near interstate highways begins Dec. 1, said James H. Welsh, the state’s commissioner of conservation.

“Gov. Blanco asked this office to take immediate steps to protect public safety by reviewing our rules about permitting drilling near major highways,” Welsh said in last Tuesday’s emergency order. “This moratorium gives us the opportunity to carefully re-examine our regulations including any necessary changes in the documents applicants submit, in our approval process and possibly recommending changes in legislation.”

Blanco, a day earlier, asked for the review to determine whether restrictions should be put in place. “More importantly, I am asking you to take further action to apply the lessons we are learning from this unfortunate incident to prevent such occurrences in the future.”

The east- and westbound lanes of Interstate 10 reopened Monday morning, far earlier than the predicted Dec. 4 reopening.

For 11 days, vehicles were forced to divert to alternate routes during the year’s busiest holiday traffic season. State officials initially said it would take at least two weeks to extinguish the fire, remove the debris and recap the well so the highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge could be reopened.

Blanco told Welsh that as disruptive as shutting down I-10 during the Thanksgiving holiday was, “the consequences could be devastating should a similar event disrupt an evacuation during hurricane season.”

The well blowout happened Nov. 15, when workers for Bridas Energy USA Inc. of The Woodlands, Texas, were drilling for a new well, and the pressure blew the line, which later erupted into flames.

State police initially expected to reopen the interstate within days of the blowout in the Atchafalaya Basin about 300 feet from the roadway. But as of Tuesday, authorities said the well was still on fire.

Emergency officials said even when the fire is extinguished, the gas, oil and other flammable materials at the well site pose a hazard until the well is recapped.

The traffic disruption comes at the heaviest travel time of the year, during the Thanksgiving holidays and with two large regional football games scheduled: the nationally televised Bayou Classic showdown between Grambling State and Southern University in New Orleans and the LSU/Arkansas rivalry game in Baton Rouge.

Cudd Well Control, the company hired to mitigate the incident, notified state police Sunday that the well had been capped.

The state Department of Transportation and Development and state Department of Environmental Quality both approved the reopening of the interstate.

During the 11 day closure of I-10, state police said 116 traffic accidents were reported on U.S. Highway 90.

Cudd Well Control workers capped a natural gas well near Interstate 10, allowing traffic to again utilize the roadway. The well exploded when Bridas Energy USA Inc. of The Woodlands, Texas, were drilling for a new well. The pressure blew the line, and later erupted into flames. Traffic was diverted from I-10 for 11 days. * Photo courtesy of LOUISIANA STATE POLICE