DNR report: Not a threat

A Jan. 29 incident at Lake Peigneur was not a threat to area residents, according to a recently released report from a state agency.

Concerns had been raised by area residents in response to a loud release of natural gas that took place following a power outage at the facility Jan. 29.

In a letter to Iberia Parish President Ernest Freyou, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources’ Commis-sioner of Conservation James H. Welsh discussed the findings from the March 18 inspection of the Jefferson Island storage and hub facility, which is owned and operated by Atlanta-based AGL Resources. During the inspection, Louis-iana Office of Conservation’s Pipeline Safety enforcement agents were accompanied during the inspection by a representative of the U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation.

Along with the letter, a Office of Pipeline Safety investigation summary form, as well as a uniform hazardous materials report form from the Louisiana State Police, were submitted.

“Based on a review of operators procedures for abnormal operations, records pertaining to the event, and by the onsite field review at the facility, the Office of Conservation agents found that the facility’s blowdown system performed as designed and further, did not find any apparent probable violations pertaining to the Jan. 29, 2008, event,” Welsh said in his letter to Freyou. “There were no damages or apparent harmful impacts from the incident.”

Keith Poston, managing director of corporate communications at AGL Resources, said he was pleased with the report’s findings, affirming the three-minute timeframe of the incident as determined by the amount of natural gas released as well as accounts from employees of the facility who were on the scene.

“The report confirms that the safety systems operated as they were supposed to, and there was no risk to the public,” he said. “Safety is a top priority for our company, and we hope the report is reassuring.”

Poston said that there was no risk of an explosion or other health risks during the release.

“It vented straight up into the air, as the system was designed to,” Poston said. “Even if it lasted 20 minutes, there was still no risk to the public.”

Nara Crowley is vice president of Save Lake Peigneur, a community organization that petitioned for the investigation. She has received input from several community residents about the report.

“Everyone is outraged,” she said. “The DNR completely disregarded all the statements and testimonials that area residents provided about the incident.”

Crowley takes issue with the claim that the incident lasted for three minutes.

“We maintain, from residents who have testified, that the actual gas release lasted a minimum of 30 minutes,” she said. “We have telephone records of people calling the police over that period of time. Plus, what did the DNR investigate? They got all their facts and figures from AGL.”

Crowley provided copies of written testimonials from more than two dozen area residents, most of whom provided differing accounts to the three-minute timeframe for the gas release incident. W.M. Chartier said the release lasted more than 20 minutes.

“The deafening pressure release noise began immediately after the power failure,” Chartier said.