Broken Oil Pipeline Threatens Marshland

A spill of more than 10,000 gallons of oil from a ruptured underground pipeline threatened sensitive marshlands that surround a Louisiana lake.

The oil gushed from the Texaco pipeline Friday on Lake Barre, creating a slick seven miles long and two miles wide by Saturday. More than 200 workers used containment booms to recover more than 9,660 gallons by late Sunday.

“We have made good progress, but we still have more work to do,” Texaco spokesman Fred Palmer said. He said work will continue into the night if the weather permits.

Texaco estimated the spill at 10,500 to 16,800 gallons of medium-weight oil.