Environmental crews and Denbury Resources officials today continued cleanup and repair on an oil well blowout off of Spring Hill Road in Amite County, two days after the event forced a shutdown of Highway 570 that is still in effect.
Denbury officials said the blowout occurred around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, causing carbon dioxide to escape the well.
No fire was reported at the scene, nor any injuries, and officials said the blowout posed no imminent threat to residents.
No spilled oil reached any waterways, according to Department of Environmental Quality officials.
Three nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, and Amite County Emergency Management director Sam Walsh said today the evacuation would remain in effect until the highway is reopened.
Remaining residents described “a loud roaring noise” from the scene.
“It’s like when an airplane flies over real low,” said Doris Deer, with a hum audible over the telephone.
Deer said she lives about 11/2 miles from the site.
The sound is audible “all day and all night,” she said.
Traffic through the area has been diverted indefinitely.
The Enterprise-Journal has asked to access the site but officials have refused entry, saying the “safety zone” around the scene is being closely controlled to make room for vacuum trucks and other heavy equipment involved in the cleanup.
Department of Transportation officials said Monday that the shutdown of Highway 570 would be indefinite and suggested motorists detour via U.S. 98 west of Summit to Highway 569 at Auburn, or Highway 24 west of McComb to Highway 569 at Liberty.
Randy Robichaux, a Denbury Resources representative said the incident involved a well that was built in the 1970s and later revitalized using carbon dioxide infusion.
The method has been used to revive oil fields in southwest Mississippi since 1984, with the pressurized gas used to loosen oil deposits from previous drilling and force them to the surface.
In recent years, Denbury Resources has used dynamite blasts to generate underground maps from seismic waves to help guide the process.
The incident is the second in southwest Mississippi in recent months for Denbury Resources, which investigated a chemical leak that led to the evacuation of seven homes in Lincoln County in June.
A trio of McComb residents that included a former Denbury employee went before the Pike County Board of Supervisors last year to ask that operations be halted until the impact of carbon dioxide injection on wells plugged with older technology could be studied further.
Denbury Resources has said the method has not led to any incidents reported to the state Oil and Gas Board.
Robichaux said the current incident was not an indication that the practice was unsafe.
SHUTDOWN INDEFINITE
Department of Transportation officials said Monday that the shutdown of Highway 570 about five miles west of McComb would be indefinite and suggested motorists detour via U.S. 98 west of Summit to Highway 569 at Auburn, or Highway 24 west of McComb to Highway 569 at Liberty.
