EE)--Officials announced that as of 4:00 p.m. Tuesday the evacuation advisement surrounding the ONEOK natural gas plant in Medford has ended, and U.S. 81 in the area has been reopened. An explosion and fire occurred just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the liquids fractionation facility, located 2 miles south of Medford in Grant County. No deaths or injuries were reported. An evacuation advisement for residents living within 2 miles of the ONEOK plant was issued about an hour after the incident. It was reduced to a 1-mile radius on Sunday evening before being lifted Tuesday afternoon. U.S. 81 between Medford and Pond Creek was closed shortly after, continuing through Tuesday until the announcement. An investigation of the mishap is underway.
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GB)--Great Salt Plains Health will break ground on a new $2.7 million pediatric and family medicine clinic next week. The groundbreaking will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday July 21. It will be Great Salt Plains second location in Enid, and at the same time officially announce expansion of its existing facility on South 30th to include dental care. Tim Starkey, Great Salt Plains CEO, said of the new clinic, will be constructed on the northeast corner of Chestnut and Garland, where the ground-breaking will be held. The new GSP Pediatric and Family Care clinic will be able to house up to four medical providers. Officials said the clinic was born of a need for pediatricians in Northwest Oklahoma. The project is being partially funded with $617,590 in federal grant money, with the remaining $2.1 million coming from GSP Health savings. Great Salt Plains started with facilities in Cherokee in 2008 and expanded to Medford and Canton in addition to Enid.
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WL)--East Phillips Road between North 42nd and North 54th and will be closed to through traffic beginning today for water pipeline construction. According to the city of Enid, the work is in support of the Kaw Lake Water Pipeline project and is expected to be completed by end of day Thursday. City officials urge motorists to follow posted traffic control signs and to drive with caution.
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