NEW ORLEANS — An explosion at the Sewerage & Water Board plant on Claiborne Avenue sent two people to the hospital and shattered windows in the Uptown area Saturday afternoon.
Sewerage and Water Board officials said the situation was “stable” at the plant around 3 p.m., an hour after New Orleans dispatchers were heard calling fire units to the plant.
Officials confirmed an explosion at turbine 5, which powers equipment throughout the city.
The turbine was built in 1958, and supplies 20 MW of power to the city’s drainage pumps.
It was taken offline in July 2017 for repairs, which were completed March 2018.
In a statement at the time, S&WB said the turbine was fully operational.
“It was methodically repaired and carefully tested over the course of the past few weeks to minimize, or eliminate, as much as possible any future breakdowns,” the statement said.
New Orleans EMS tweeted that two people were transported to University Medical Center from the incident. Their injuries were not life-threatening. A third person refused EMS treatment on the scene.