Underground leak at Denning: Gas well failure keeps 5 San Augustine County families out of their homes

Five families near the Denning community in San Augustine County remain evacuated this week while state emergency crews and energy specialists work to cap an underground natural gas well that ruptured early on Thursday, Sept. 25, roughly seven miles outside San Augustine near the intersection of State Highway 21 and FM 354.

San Augustine Emergency Management Coordinator Adam Sharp told KTRE that the issue first surfaced when a regional natural gas compressor station reported a sudden, total loss of receiving pressure. The leak is roughly 900 feet below the surface. Several plug attempts over the past week have failed, Sharp said, but response teams are now working through a revised containment plan.

Air monitoring at the site has not shown an immediate chemical or environmental threat to nearby homes, according to Sharp. The five closest residences were cleared out mainly because of heavy response traffic on narrow rural roads, not because of a confirmed health risk. Drivers in the Denning area should expect emergency vehicles and crew traffic along SH 21 and FM 354 until the well is capped.

Sources: KTRE, KJAS.

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