Spilled: The U.S. Coast Guard says an unknown amount of crude oil spilled from a tank early this morning into a Louisiana waterway and the source of the leak has been secured. Reuters reports the tank was being filled with crude oil when the spill occurred in Bayou Teche, a 125-mile long waterway winding through south-central Louisiana, the Coast Guard says. Some residents in the area were told to shelter in place as clean-up and environmental crews responded, the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office says. It was not clear how much oil had leaked into the bayou and an investigation is under way, the Coast Guard says in a statement. Rescue crews deployed more than 200 yards of boom to contain the oil slick and a wide stretch of Bayou Teche will be closed to all commercial vessel traffic until further notice, the statement says. Read the full story.
Moving up: LSU graduate Kim Hunter Reed has been appointed a deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Education, the department has announced. WBRZ-TV reports Reed, a native of Lake Charles, graduated from LSU with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 1987 and received a Master of Public Administration from the E.J. Ourso College of Business in 1995. In addition, Reed received a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy with a focus on Higher Education Policy from Southern University. She replaces Jamienne Studley, who left the department late last year, and will work with Undersecretary Ted Mitchell on the Obama administration’s higher education priorities such as access, affordability and completion. Read the full story.
Approved: The Louisiana Public Service Commission approved the sale of Cleco Corporation Monday, clearing the way for the Pineville-based utility to move from public to private hands. The Town Talk reports the 4-1 vote capped a contentious, year-and-a-half process, reversing the commission’s ruling last month, when it rejected the sale. Darren Olagues, president of Cleco Power, who is expected to take over as CEO of Cleco Corp., said the approval is win-win for all parties involved. But Public Service Commissioner Clyde Holloway, who cast the dissenting vote, expressed fear about the long-term consequences of the deal. “Cleco as we know it has ceased to exist. It is now owned by a private foreign investment company that plans to flip it in 8 to 10 years. And that same private foreign investment company is financing the deal with a massive amount of debt and ratepayers’ tax money,” Holloway said. Read the full story.
