By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NORCO – A day after a chemical release from a Dow facility in Norco forced school and road closures and a temporary evacuation from homes in the area, St. Charles Parish officials issued an all clear call Wednesday morning and allowed residents to return to their homes.

Dow spokesman Tommy Faucheux said most of the chemical was blown over the spillway away from homes, but authorities were not taking any chances. He said an investigation team, made up of Dow Chemical experts is in the middle of an investigation into the root cause of the rupture.

St. Charles Spokeswoman Renee Simpson said the parish called for an evacuation of homes in a section of Norco. She also said administrators at Sacred Heart and Norco Elementary schools canceled classes Tuesday.

Rochelle Cancienne-Touchard, a spokeswoman for the St. Charles school system, said students at Norco Elementary were in the middle of LEAP testing when the cancellation occurred. She said testing was pushed back a day and finished a day later than other schools in the parish.

A pipe leak at Dow’s Hexion Specialty Chemicals plant caused a release of titanium tetrachloride, which converts to hydrochloric acid when it reacts with the air, said Simpson.

She said the chemical as a vapor is an eye and throat irritant that had the potential to harm area residents.

According to Dow, the pipeline, located near the Bonnet Carre Spillway, ruptured around 4:30 a.m. causing the chemical leak. Dow officials said the pipe was sealed shortly after the rupture and they are confident that the vapors had not blown over heavily inhabited areas of the parish.