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Texas oil spill isolated, Magellan said

Emergency officials issued a shelter-in-place order for a two-mile area early Thursday following an oil spill in southeast Texas.

By Daniel J. Graeber
Residents allowed to return home after about 1,500 barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline in southeast Texas. Map courtesy of Magellan Midstream Partners.
Residents allowed to return home after about 1,500 barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline in southeast Texas. Map courtesy of Magellan Midstream Partners.

July 14 (UPI) -- No injuries were reported and the release of oil from a pipeline in Texas was contained in a confined area, Magellan Midstream Partners said.

Emergency managers in Bastrop County, located in southeast Texas, said late Thursday that those living in the 15 residencies evacuated earlier in the day were allowed to return home, though traffic in the region was limited.

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"There are no injuries associated with the incident," Magellan said in a statement emailed to UPI. "The oil has been contained in a small area around the pipeline release and no crude oil has reached any water."

Local NBC affiliate, KXAN, reported that emergency officials issued shelter-in-place orders for people living within two miles of the release. Those living within a mile of the rupture were evacuated late Thursday morning.

Magellan said its preliminary estimate of the size of the release was around 1,200 barrels of crude oil. The company said clean-up and recovery operations were "well under way," with 100 people on site.

"Actions have been taken to contain the crude oil release to minimize environmental impact and to ensure public safety," the company said.

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The cause of the spill was unknown as of early Friday. Two years ago, the company said third-party excavation led to a release of about 1,000 barrels of oil from a pipeline system through Oklahoma. The pipeline was closed "quickly" and most of the released material was contained to a rural area

The company reported a pipeline in Iowa leaked diesel fuel in January.

The company is one of the largest in the country, with about 9,700 miles of pipelines for refined petroleum products and 2,200 miles of crude oil pipelines in its portfolio.

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