Friday, March 2nd 2012, 10:16 am
Medford schools are closed Friday after a propane leak at a fuel-storage plant prompted a voluntary evacuation of the town's 1,000 residents.
The American Red Cross says two people checked into a shelter in nearby Wakita after the evacuation advisory was issued Thursday.
3/1/2012 Related Story: Town Of Medford Evacuated Due To Gas Leak
The leak started Tuesday at the OneOk plant 2.5 miles south of town. OneOk spokeswoman Megan Washburne said crews are working Friday to fix the leak, but they don't yet know when it will be contained.
Washburne said the vapors are at a "low and very safe level," and OneOk officials do not believe an evacuation is necessary for safety reasons.
The advisory was issued after shifting winds pushed the vapors toward Medford. Officials worried the vapors could pose a fire risk if a pocket of propane ignited.
OneOk maintains the propane level is too low to be flammable.
OneOk spokeswoman Megan Washburne released the following statement Friday morning:
"Nothing has changed, we still believe that the level of propane is safe and we don't believe that an evacuation is necessary for safety reasons. We continue to investigate the cause and we were working to contain the release and return the facility to normal operations. I don't have a time frame but we are continuously working on it.
It's a hydrocarbon storage facility and there was an unexpected release from the storage well so we are investigating what happened and what caused it. It's an underground storage well and we have well maintenance experts on the scene to fix it. We are trying to cap the well. I don't have an exact number of the experts on the site but we are working with a number of outside agencies including environmental experts.
This has never happened before and we are trying to make sure that safety is priority and we are just trying to make sure everything is done right."
More:
3/1/2012 Related Story: US 81 At Medford Remains Closed Due To Gas Leak
2/29/2012 Related Story: Propane Leak Forces Evacuation Of ONEOK Plant Near Medford
2/29/2012 Related Story: Gas Leak Threatens Northern Oklahoma Town
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