Murphy Oil spill adds to devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

-September 17, 2005

Hurricane Katrina pummeled the southeast Louisiana area Aug. 29, and as a result of the damage, oil leaked from a Murphy Oil Corp. tank. Murphy Oil discovered the spill Sept. 3 when the company said the storage tank was punctured by post-hurricane flooding that moved the tank off its foundation.

Parish officials at St. Bernard Parish said they believed entire subdivisions of homes would have to be bulldozed because of hurricane damage and also because of the oil. The Coast Guard said the spill involved about 19,500 barrels, and officials estimated as many as 1,000 homes were contaminated by the roughly 800,000 gallons of oil that spilled from the Murphy Oil tank. Residents were told when they returned to their homes they would have to wear rubber gloves and boots.

Despite warnings that a Category 5 was approaching, Murphy Oil didn’t fill their tank completely, causing it to crumble off its foundation as a result, according to some experts. The federal on-scene coordinator of the Murphy Oil spill cleanup, Frank Paskewich, said the Meraux spill was the largest source of the oil damage in the St. Bernard area, adding there were a number of smaller sources, such as cars.

Storm Modeler Risk Management Solutions Inc. estimated insured losses could reach between $40 billion to $60 billion, making Hurricane Katrina the most costly U.S. disaster ever.