NATCHEZ — A mineral oil leak from a recently repaired transformer caused Natchez-Adams School District officials to send Natchez High students and staff home early Friday.

Steven Richardson, public relations coordinator, said students and staff were sent home at about 1:10 p.m. Friday after a maintenance crew discovered the leak in the transformer.

The maintenance crew called Entergy officials, who confirmed the leak.

“Based on the maintenance evaluation and our initial impression we received based on the comments of their (Entergy) representative there, we made the decision to close the school. We take every precaution possible to protect our students and staff, so we used our best judgment,” Richardson said. “The Entergy engineer on side, who evaluated the transformer when he arrived, said there was a possibility of the transformer exploding. That’s when we used our best judgment and decided to go ahead and dismiss school.”

Tim Runnels, a spokesman for Entergy, said several weeks ago the transformer at Natchez High School was damaged by lightning and repaired.

“All was checked out and we energized the transformer back up,” Runnels said.

However, Entergy officials received a call from maintenance workers at Natchez High this afternoon, telling them they had discovered a leak.

“We have a minor leak there. We put out material to isolate the leak,” he said.

The substance that leaked was mineral oil, which is used as an insulator in the transformer.

“We plan to change out the transformer this afternoon. We have a new one coming in from Jackson and we’ve hired a third party environmental crew to make sure the clean up is done properly. Since it’s mineral oil, there are no major concerns,” Runnels said. “The third party contractor will do whatever is necessary to put the area back in shape and all work will be completed (Friday).”

Richardson said class would be back in session at the high school on Monday.

“We’re now going to plan on how we will make up that lost time,” Richardson said.