Magellan Midstream pipeline leak in Texas

Magellan's 275 000 bpd Longhorn Pipeline, which transports crude oil from Crane, Texas to Houston, ruptured about four miles (6 km) southwest of Bastrop, a town not far from the state capital of Austin. The company shut the pipeline and isolated the affected segment, it said.

People from 15 residences near the site were evacuated due to the spill but will be cleared by authorities to return home late on Thursday, the company statement said.

The pipeline was ruptured when a contractor doing maintenance work hit a fitting, Magellan said. The line was in service at the time.

The spilled oil has been contained around the site and it did not reach water, Magellan said. Around 100 representatives were involved in cleanup efforts, the company added.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said in an email that it had dispatched an inspector to the site.

The Longhorn Pipeline transports crude oil from the prolific Permian Basin shale of West Texas to the major refining and export centre in Houston, Texas. Authorities have allowed residents to return to homes evacuated after about 50 000 gal. (189 000 l) of crude oil spilled from a cut underground pipeline in Central Texas.

A spokesman for Magellan Midstream Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Bruce Heine says no one was injured by in the spill.

About 15 households were displaced by the spill.