The state Department of Natural Resources mentioned Day-Smith's death when they announced new safety rules for the tank batteries.

She had dreamed of going to Harvard University and becoming a lawyer and judge, her father said. State Police investigators said they believe Day-Smith was sitting on the tank when it exploded on 28 February, killing her. The large metal tanks can hold hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil and can give off flammable fumes.īut Zalee Gail Day-Smith and her friends were apparently unaware of those dangers, because they frequently hung out in and around one of the tanks near her mom's house in the Ragley community, between DeRidder and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Oilfield tank batteries are storage sites for oil wells that aren't connected to major pipelines. After an oilfield tank battery explosion killed a 14-year-old girl, Louisiana regulators have put new rules in place for the storage tanks and are launching a campaign to identify all of them statewide.

Tank when we house