The Coast Guard responds to a gas pipeline fire near Port O’Connor, Texas.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Unified Command consisting of Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, Genesis Energy and RLB Contracting Inc., continues to respond to a damaged natural gas pipeline near Port O’Connor, Texas, Thursday.
The dredging barge Jonathon King Boyd, which caught fire after puncturing a gas pipeline while conducting dredging operations Tuesday evening approximately 2 miles from Port O’Connor, was safely towed to Port Lavaca and moored at a RLB Contracting Inc. facility.
Coast Guard and Texas General Land Office crews conducted an on scene assessment around the area of the incident Thursday morning and viewed no signs of pollution or sheen.
An Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, hydrographic survey team, is preparing to survey the pipeline to ensure the damaged area does not protrude from the ocean floor, as well as confirm there is no longer natural gas being released from the pipeline.
A one-mile safety zone remains in effect. The Intracoastal Waterway remains closed to traffic from mile marker 468 to mile marker 474 to include the Matagorda Ship Channel from the jetties to seven nautical miles inside the bay.
