Car crashes in foggy weather injure 33 people and force bridge near New Orleans to close for hours

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Several people were injured Tuesday morning after foggy conditions contributed to several car crashes that forced the closure of the 24-mile-long (38.6-kilometer-long) bridge connecting the north and south shores of southeast Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. By early evening, both spans had reopened.

Carlton Dufrechou, the general manager of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, said there were six crashes — two on the southbound span and four on the northbound span. St. Tammany Parish fire officials told local news outlets that 33 people were transported to area hospitals with injuries. There were no fatalities.

Dufrechou said he didn’t know the exact number of vehicles involved in the crashes or the total number of injuries.

A total of 30 people were stranded on the bridge for hours and were transported by van to either Metairie on the south shore or Mandeville on the lake's north shore throughout the day, officials said.

“Fog was definitely a factor but from what I’m hearing it was not the (only) factor,” he said. “There was some haze on the bridge but the fog developed all of a sudden. We look at accidents all the time on this bridge and 60% to 70% of those wrecks are due to inattentive driving, either texting or answering a phone or looking down and not looking at the road."

The causeway, connecting the New Orleans metro area on the south shore to suburban communities on the north shore, was closed around 8:30 a.m. After damaged vehicles from the two parallel spans were cleared, the bridge was reopened at about 5 p.m. with rolling convoys, officials said.

Tuesday’s crashes were reminiscent of a deadly accident on Interstate 55 on Oct. 23, 2023, near New Orleans. Seven motorists died and about two dozen were injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles amid a super fog, which is created by smoke from marsh fires mixing with dense fog.

The Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge was also briefly closed amid the fog but was later reopened. No accidents were reported on that bridge during the bad weather.

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge is closed after dense fog caused multiple car crashes on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Brett Duke/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Disabled vehicles and response vehicles are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup due to morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests against the project on the North Dakota prairie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

The Associated Press sent text messages and emails to media representatives for the tribe and left a voicemail at the tribe's headquarters. They didn't immediately respond Thursday.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer each welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

FILE - A sign for the Dakota Access Pipeline is seen north of Cannonball, N.D. and the Standing Rock Reservation on May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)