Pollution

Citation

(2007), "Pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2007.07316dac.002

Pollution

22 December 2005 Bei River (Guangdong Province, China)

A second Chinese city stopped drawing drinking water from a southern river after a toxic spill, the government said today, as the business centre of Guangzhou rushed to protect water supplies to its seven million people. The area hit by the spill is one of China’s most densely populated and is home to thousands of factories that form the heart of the country’s booming export industries. The city of Yingde, upstream from Guangzhou, stopped using water from the Bei late yesterday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said the city of 210,000 people switched to supplies drawn from a nearby reservoir through a hastily installed 1.6-kilometre-long pipe. The move came after Xinhua said Guangzhou and the nearby city of Foshan were ordered to “start emergency plans to ensure safe drinking water supplies.”

29 December 2005

An alert regime, enforced in Russia’s city of Khabarovsk because of a poisonous slick from Songhua River, is lifted starting from today, the regional government reported. The decision was taken by the Khabarovsk region commission for emergency situations. Residues of “the Songhua slick” will today leave behind the Amur River section flowing through the Khabarovsk city. The concentration of nitrobenzene is slightly above the maximum allowable level. Drinking water supplied to the city meets all the norms. The Rospotrebnadzor consumer rights watchdog has reported that the quality of drinking water “is now higher than ever before.” This comes because of additional purification of water by activated charcoal. As specialists have forecasted, contaminated water is intensively diluted at all sections of the Amur River. On January 2 or 3, the slick will reach Amursk. However, no emergency situation is expected when the toxic slick flows past the city as well as when it flows past Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Both cities are ready for the situation. Specialists say there will be no cuts-off of cold and hot water supply to these cities.

27 January 2006

Fifteen people have been confirmed responsible for the toxic cadmium slick in the Beijiang River in south China’s Guangdong Province last month, according to the China Daily reported today. Ten employees of the Shaoguan Smelting Plant and the Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co have been punished accordingly by the Government and the Communist Party of China. The CPC’s Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Department of Supervision made the announcement on Wednesday (January 25). Three other employees of the plant held directly responsible for the accident and suspected of criminal offences have been handed over to the public security authorities for further investigation. They are a deputy head for production safety, the chief for drainage of a subsidiary of the plant and a division chief of the sewage treatment station of a subsidiary. The slick was caused by the spilling of more than 1,000 tons of heavy cadmium-contaminated water from the smelting plant on December 15.

12 January 2006 Brittany, France

Norwegian shipping company Seatrans has indicated that it will not appeal against a hefty NKr2.8 m fine ($414,000) imposed on it by a court in Bergen in a ground-breaking hearing into a pollution offence committed off the French coast in March last year. The company’s response to the court’s verdict, which was pronounced on December 29, was given wide publicity yesterday in France, where environmental organisations had expected that the company would be treated with relative leniency by the Norwegian judiciary. In the event the fine imposed is close to that which could have been expected from the court in Brest, which had been preparing to hear the case last October when Norway indicated that it intended to handle the prosecution, using its prerogative as the flag state of the vessel concerned. Norway cited the UN Law of the Sea Convention to justify its decision but French environmental organisations expressed the fear that Norway was simply trying to protect Seatrans and the master of the 1991-built, chemical/oil carrier Trans Arctic from what it perceived as the harshness of a series of recent judgments handed down by the French courts in marine pollution cases. Seatrans said yesterday that it considered the fine was high by Norwegian standards but it would not be appealing against it nevertheless. Finance director Rolf Mikkelsen did not contest that pollution had been caused by the Trans Arctic but said that it had been an accident. He added that the company was still not sure what had been the cause of the 38 km pollution slick spotted in the vessel’s wake off the island of Oleron near the French Atlantic coast. The vessel was diverted to the port of Brest and ordered to pay E400,000 ($520,000) bail before it was released. “We have not been able to find out exactly how this happened,” said Mr Mikkelsen. “We have just seen the photographs. It should not happen. We do not know how it could have happened but it did. We have therefore accepted the fine and will try not to repeat this in future.”

9 January 2006 Hunan Province, China

A third major toxic spill in China in as many months has threatened water supplies to millions of residents of two central cities, officials and state media said yesterday. A clean-up accident allowed the chemical cadmium, which can cause neurological disorders and cancer, to flood out of a smelting works and into the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province on January 4, Xinhua news agency said. The river supplies tap water to residents in the provincial capital Changsha, which has about 6 million people, and nearby Xiangtan city, which has 700,000 inhabitants. Officials said they have taken emergency measures and residents were not in danger. Local authorities have blocked off the spill and are trying to neutralize the cadmium slick with different chemicals and dilute it by releasing water from a dam. “Even though this pollution incident is not over, there’s no impact on residents’ lives,” said an officer at the Changsha city government’s office. “The water being supplied by the water treatment plants is still up to standard,” he added. A spokesman from Xiangtan government also gave similar assurances. Xinhua said the amount of cadmium in the river reached 25.6 times above safe levels at its peak but had dropped to 0.14 times on Saturday (January 7). Officials said they did not have to shut off water supplies as measures they took were effective and water treatment plants were able to filter out the pollution. Local residents, including hotels in Xiangtan, also said there was no disruption to their supply. However, several residents said they did not know about the spill, which was not reported on Xinhua, the main government mouthpiece, until Saturday night. It was not clear whether local media had reported it earlier. The accident occurred due to human error, the director of Hunan Province’s environmental protection bureau was quoted as saying. The Zhuzhou Water Conservancy Investment Co. caused the spill while it was trying to clear silt out of Xiawan Harbor in Zhuzhou city, where the smelter is located upstream from Xiangtan and Changsha, he said. The cadmium-contaminated water collected in two lakes, which then overflowed into the river.

20 January 2006 DBL 152 (USA)

Tank barge DBL 152 spilled more than one million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico last year after hitting a submerged drilling platform wrecked by Hurricane “Rita”, the Coast Guard says. The November 11 spill off the coasts of Louisiana and Port Arthur, Texas and the $35 million clean-up associated with it, might have been avoided if the owners of the oil platform had marked the submerged wreck with a lighted buoy, as required under federal law, Coast Guard officials said today. The barge operator, K-Sea Transportation, paid for the clean-up, but future litigation is expected against the owner of the platform, Coast Guard environmental specialist Patrick Cuty in New Orleans said today. The wrecked platform, owned by Houston based Targa Resources, was marked only with floating plastic balls described as “cherry fenders.” Such buoys are not lit and would be difficult to see at midnight, when the accident happened. Targa spokesman Joe Bob Perkins said today there were no lights on the WC-229 platform, but “it was marked” and the location was well known to mariners. He said the barge was “significantly” off course when it struck the platform. “The Coast Guard advised all mariners of the location of the sunken platform and that it was only marked with unlit buoys,” Perkins told said. The damaged barge, now floating upside down at a dock off Mobile Bay, has been drained. A gash in the hull is 35 feet long and 6 feet wide. The fuel oil on board was so heavy it sank to the seafloor as it gushed from three separate cargo holds and, according to Coast Guard news releases, has not yet washed up on any shorelines. An estimated 134,400 gallons of the spilled oil was recovered from the seafloor. But rough weather immediately after the accident thwarted cleanup efforts for days at a time. Federal records show at least 167 Gulf platforms were damaged or destroyed during the active 2005 hurricane season. Many of these are now submerged or so damaged that the warning beacons on them no longer function, and federal officials acknowledge they have no idea how many have working marker lights. Targa’s spokesman said today the Coast Guard approved using unlit buoys and advised Targa it could deploy lighted buoys when they became available and when crews and ships could be found to deploy the buoys. According to the Code of Federal Regulations, it is the responsibility of the owner of a wrecked platform to ensure that it is appropriately marked. Officials at Coast Guard headquarters said the agency does not have an inspection process to determine if the wrecked platforms have been properly marked. But, they said, companies are subject to fines if they are found to have shirked the buoy requirement. Targa has co-operated fully with the Coast Guard’s investigation of the barge’s accident, the company spokesman said, and no action has been taken against Targa.

25 January 2006 Global Peace (Panama)

Bulk Global Peace (67727 gt, built 1982) berthed at Gladstone at 23:30, January 24. While berthing, a tug allegedly holed the vessel’s hull, resulting in the spillage of between 10 and 40 tonnes of oil into the harbour, which on a flood tide has possibly caused pollution and contamination of other vessels. A major incident room has been set up by Gladstone Authorities and the spill is now in the process of being cleaned up.

A massive cleanup operation is under way in Gladstone Harbour in central Queensland after 10,000 litres of fuel spilled from bulk Global Peace last night. It is believed the vessel was in the process of berthing when a tug assisting the operation rammed into the side of the vessel, damaging the fuel tanks. It is the second oil spill in the harbour in a week. A Department of Transport spokesman says the accident happened at the RG Tanna terminal shortly before midnight, AEST. A major incident room has been set up in Brisbane to co-ordinate the clean-up. The oil spill is widespread in the harbour and is washing into the marina and Auckland Creek. Gladstone resident Patricia Lees says at 05:00, today, there appeared to be no oil at the harbour, but she was told there had been a spill. The Queensland Government says the owner of the vessel will pay for the cleanup. Queensland Transport Minister Paul Lucas says the cleanup will take up to a week and could cost more than A$3 million. “The cost of this is fully met under marine law by the ship owners,” he said. “That’s a requirement and both the environmental clean-up and any maritime safety clean-up is met by law by the ship owners and of course they may have various remedies against other parties, that’s a matter for them.”

25 January 2006

Thousands of litres of oil seeped into sensitive mangroves and estuaries after tug Tom Tough (397 gt, built 1983), owned by Adsteam Marine, struck bulk Global Peace in the port of Gladstone. Authorities today said the oil spill could be the state’s worst in more than 30 years. Several government agencies and four skimmer vessels were called in to clean up after Tom Tough struck Global Peace, holing its fuel tank as it was about to berth. The accident, shortly before 2400, AEST, caused 25 tonnes of heavy fuel to spew into the incoming tide. The tide carried most of the spill upstream into mangroves, with the remainder flowing back around port facilities and river estuaries, Captain John Watkinson of Maritime Safety Queensland, who is running the clean-up operation, said. “It has impacted on a fair bit of the Gladstone port area,” he said. So far, there have been no reports of dead wildlife and the main area of concern centred on vegetation at Wiggins Island and the entrance to the Calliope River. Experts from Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne were flying to Gladstone today as part of a national response team set up to deal with serious oil spills. The clean up could last up to a week. Capt Watkinson said the costs could run into millions of dollars. An investigation by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Maritime Safety Queensland was under way, but it is believed Tom Tough struck the Global Peace after one of it’s engines failed.

26 January 2006

Gladstone is mopping up after the state’s worst oil spill in 30 years. More than 25,000 litres of heavy fuel oil leaked into waterways surrounding the central Queensland coast town after tug Tom Tough and bulk Global Peace collided shortly before midnight yesterday. Global Peace was about to berth at the RG Tanna coal terminal when the stern of the tug struck its hull and ruptured its fuel tank. There was speculation yesterday that one of the tug’s engines may have failed as the Global Peace was being docked. An estimated 25 tonnes of oil spewed out of the small hole into the harbour in the next 40 minutes. Emergency crews rushed to deploy 600 m of floating containment barriers early yesterday but were thwarted by a changing tide. By 0600 hrs an oil slick had spread more than 80 sq km and drifted 20k m up the Calliope River. It is expected to take a week to clean up the mess at an estimated cost of A$3 million. Under international maritime law, the cleanup must be paid for by the ship’s owners. This could be challenged if the tug was at fault. Korea Marine Ltd technical manager J.D. Hur said he believed the tugs engine had failed. Oil spill experts and Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators arrived in Gladstone yesterday to oversee the cleanup. Four oil skimmers on loan from ports in Townsville, Cairns and Brisbane worked through the night to suck up as much of the slick as possible. Areas they concentrated on included the marina and Auckland and Calliope river systems. No oil had entered protected or marine park areas. Maritime Safety Queensland spokesman John Watkinson said the environmental cost was not yet known, but preliminary reports looked promising. Environmental Protection Agency environment director Jon Womersley said 15 staff would arrive in Gladstone today to assess the spill. An international expert in treating wildlife affected by oil was on standby and a temporary base had been set up to clean and care for animals. Transport Minister Paul Lucas said everything that could be done was being done to clean up the spill as quickly as possible. “Response teams worked through the morning to contain the oil before the tide turned and spread the fuel further into the other port areas,” Mr Lucas said. Maritime Safety Queensland and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are investigating the oil spill.

The Wildlife Protection Association of Australia (WPAA) says there needs to be an inquiry into Queensland’s worst oil spill in 35 years. Authorities have now worked for more than 24 hours to contain the spill in Gladstone harbour on the central Queensland coast after 25,000 litres of heavy fuel poured from bulk Global Peace yesterday. The spill happened after a tug (Tom Tough) rammed into the bulk carrier and ruptured its fuel tank. WPAA president Pat O’Brien says cost cutting may have played a part in the tragedy. “It’s probably the worst place to have a spill but I guess it had to happen somewhere because of cost cuts with pilots and with a whole range of harbour matters,” he said. “It was just a matter of time before it happened, I think that you’ll find that when there’s an inquiry into it, and I’m sure there will be and there should be, I’m sure that we’ll find that there’s been some cost-cutting issues involved in it.” Mr O’Brien says it is the worst place the spill could have happened. He says the area has dugongs, crocodiles and seabirds and many more animals that will be affected by the spill. Authorities say the cleanup after is being hampered by bad weather. Captain John Watkinson from Maritime Safety Queensland says a boom put up to contain the oil collapsed overnight. “The squall late last night parted that boom and oil did get into the river,” he said. Strong winds have prevented authorities from cleaning up deep-sea areas of the harbour today but Mr Watkinson says the big waves and high tides are flushing the oil out of mangroves. The marina has reopened but fishermen say they want to know how a tug-boat could pierce the tank of a carrier. Warrick Sheldon, who represents Gladstone commercial fishermen, says the impact of the slick on the industry could be felt for months or years. “It’ll just annihilate the stocks plus everything up and down the food chain in relation to what the different fishermen catch,” he said. “It’s right in the middle of the commercial banana prawn fishing season at the moment – this has the potential to just wipe out their stocks,” he said.

26 January 2006

A marine investigator from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says preliminary investigations into the spill should be completed by tomorrow afternoon. The ATSB is investigating how the tug rammed into bulk Global Peace and ruptured its fuel tank. Investigation leader Peter Foley says the type of oil involved has added to the severity of the spill. “It’s certainly more difficult to control than perhaps crude oil because it tends to be around the same specific gravity or same density as sea water,” he said. Meanwhile, the commercial fishing industry in Gladstone says the industry is on the brink of collapse following the spill. The local commercial fishing industry also wants to know how a tug-boat could pierce the hull of a bulk coal carrier. Gladstone Marina was closed to vessels after the spill, but Marine Safety Queensland says the marina was re-opened at 0700, AEST; this includes access via Auckland Creek. Bert Thornley was at sea off the Gladstone coast while the marina was closed, and says he stood to lose $35,000 worth of fish if his boat could not anchor within 24 hours. Warrick Sheldon, who represents Gladstone commercial fishermen, says the impact of the slick on the industry could be felt for months or years. “It’ll just annihilate the stocks plus everything up and down the food chain in relation to what the different fishermen catch,” he said. “It’s right in the middle of the commercial banana prawn fishing season at the moment, this has the potential to just wipe out their stocks,” he said.

Nearly one third of a massive oil spill off the central Queensland coast has been cleaned up, despite bad weather. About 25,000 litres of oil poured into Gladstone Harbour yesterday bulk Global Peace and tug Tom Tough collided. Captain John Watkinson from Maritime Safety Queensland says about 7,000 litres of oil has already been removed. “That’s not a bad effort for two days,” he said. But Captain Watkinson says strong winds have forced crews out of deep-water areas. So far seven birds have been found coated in oil. But authorities do not expect there will be any long-term damage to the harbour’s ecology.

27 January 2006

A legal battle is looming over who should foot the multimillion-dollar clean-up bill for the Gladstone oil spill. Oil skimmers continued to work through the night to scoop up the estimated 25,000 litres of heavy fuel that spewed from bulk Global Peace after its fuel tank was punctured by tug Tom Tough while berthing at the RG Tanna coal port. As clean-up crews battled to contain the oil spreading up Auckland Creek after an overnight storm yesterday, lawyers on both sides were busy putting a case together as the matter looks more than likely to end up in court. International maritime law dictates that the ship’s owner is responsible for paying the clean-up bill. But Brisbane law firm Thynne and Macartney, which is acting for IGlobal Peace’s managers Korean Marine Ltd, claims the tug Tom Tough was to blame. Speaking from Gladstone harbour yesterday, investigating lawyer Frank Turner said he understood the tug’s control system failed during the berthing manoeuvre. Adsteam Australasia refused to comment yesterday. Maritime Safety Queensland general manager John Watkinson confirmed engine malfunction “will be looked at” by investigators. Clean-up operations hit a snag about 23:30 Wednesday when a violent storm hit and caused a protective boom to collapse. Capt Watkinson said that allowed oil to flow into Auckland Creek and the Gladstone Marina. “We have had reports of boat owners having their hulls soiled by the oil and the usual method of dealing with those is to direct those complaints to their insurance company,” he said. Maritime Safety Queensland has said the oil spill, which now covers more than 80 sq km of ocean, will take a week to clean up. Local fisherman Lance Hayward claims he is facing a $50,000 loss due to the oil spill. The hand-line fisherman returned to port on Tuesday afternoon with more than 1,050 live coral trout on board, destined for the lucrative Hong Kong market in time for Chinese New Year celebrations. But in the past two days the oil has slowly infiltrated his on board water tanks and killed more than 100 fish. Now the company he was to have deliver his catch to says it will only pay half price for the trout.

27 January 2006

Work to recover oil from a spill in the port of Gladstone was progressing “really well” this morning, according to the state government agency, Marine Safety Queensland. An MSQ spokeswoman said that most of the oil had been picked up and while the environmental effects were still being assessed, the immediate impact on wildlife appeared to be minimal. A range of anti-pollution equipment, including oil skimmers, was deployed to clean-up the estimated 25,000 litres of bunker fuel released after a collision between bulk Global Peace and salvage tug Tom Tough on Tuesday night (January 24). It is understood that an engine malfunction on Tom Tough may have contributed to the impact. Global Peace was manoeuvring into a berth at the RG Tanna coal terminal when the collision occurred. There were reports that oil had flowed into Auckland Creek and the Gladstone Marina, soiling the hulls of vessels moored in the area. There are also fishing industry concerns about the effects on prawns and mud crabs, which live in the mangrove-fringed waters that have been affected by the spill. MSQ estimated the clean up might take a week. International maritime law dictates that the vessel’s owner is responsible for paying the clean-up bill. However, Brisbane law firm Thynne and Macartney, which is acting for the managers of Global Peace, Korean Marine, claims Tom Tough was to blame

 27 January 2006

Queensland’s Transport Minister Paul Lucas says he is pleased with the progress of the Gladstone Harbour oil spill cleanup. More than 80 specialised personnel from around Australia have been helping the operation. Mr Lucas inspected the central Queensland site this afternoon and says more than 12 tonnes of material have been collected. “They now believe they have got all the oil from the harbour itself, other than a bit of sheen that might be out there,” he said. “The efforts then will switch to mangrove clean-up and beaches as is dictated and determined by the environmental advisers.”

29 January 2006

The Queensland seafood industry has called for test results to be released as soon as possible following the oil spill in Gladstone Harbour from bulk Global Peace last Tuesday (January 24). Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin says samples of fish, prawns and crabs will be collected from the affected area. Neil Green, from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association, says commercial fishermen will be awaiting the test results. “We’ll be hoping that this can be rushed through as fast as possible and the thing that we will be certainly impressing on the minister is that we’ll need the truth whatever it is so that we can work on with this because it is costing us a huge amount of money every day,” he said. Vessels returning to the area with catches on board are currently being diverted to Yeppoon. Meanwhile, the cleanup in the Gladstone area is continuing.

20 January 2006 Dona Paz (Philippines)

Caltex Philippines, charterer of tanker Vector involved in a collision with ferry Dona Paz has been absolved of liability by a court in the Philippines. Vector was carrying 8,800 barrels of petroleum products for Caltex Philippines when it was in collision the heavily overloaded Dona Paz in December, 1987. A massive fire followed the collision, leaving more than 4,300 dead. An appellate court in the Philippines has upheld a 1997 ruling dismissing claims by the ferry’s operator, Sulpicio Lines, and Prudential Guarantee Insurers against Caltex Philippines. Sulpicio Lines claimed that Vector and Caltex, as its charterer, were to blame for the incident. The ferry company alleged the tanker lacked navigational sidelights and was grossly un-seaworthy and that its master lacked a chief mate’s licence. However, the Philippines judge found that Caltex had “no obligation to, nor is it in a position, to determine the seaworthiness of the vessel it employs”. “The charterer is not liable for damages by the negligence of the latter, Vector Shipping, in handling the ship,” he stated. In November 1988, a Philippines maritime inquiry found Vector responsible for the collision and described the tanker as “a floating hazard for navigation”. Sulpicio Lines received Pesos 25 million ($460,000) in insurance payments from Prudential, representing part of the lost value of the sunken ferry, and has since filed suits against Vector Shipping and Caltex to indemnify itself for cargo and passenger claims it had already paid out.

13 February 2006 New York Harbour, United States

Up to 30,700 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled into a waterway off New York Harbour today while the cargo was being transferred from a barge to a Chevron plant, authorities said. The Coast Guard and spill-response companies set up booms to contain the oil, floating on the Arthur Kill between Perth Amboy and New York’s Staten Island. The oil escaped during a transfer of about 1.5 million gallons of oil from a barge, the Coast Guard said. The cause was under investigation. Coast Guard officials said Chevron assumed responsibility for the spill and contracted with two companies to help with the cleanup.

13 February 2006

The US Coast Guard said today a heavy fuel oil spill from a Chevron facility in New York Harbour closed vessel traffic in waters near Staten Island. The spill happened during a transfer of about 1.5 million gallons of heavy fuel oil from a barge to the facility in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the Coast Guard said.

As many as 30,786 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the Arthur Kill today during a transfer from a barge to the Chevron plant here, authorities said. The spill this morning stretched from the Chevron facility to Smoking Point in Staten Island, and the US Coast Guard and spill response companies had set up boom boats to contain it, said Larry Cattano, the city’s emergency management co-ordinator. Coast Guard Petty Officer Daniel Bender said the worst-case scenario was that 733 42-gallon barrels of oil, equalling 30,786 gallons, got into the waterway. New York City of Department of Environmental Protection Spokesman Ian Michaels said that a hazardous materials team the agency sent to monitor the Staten Island shoreline had reported that a small amount of oil came aground near the Outerbridge Crossing around 15:30 hrs. “We’ll continue to monitor the area,” Michaels said. The cause of the spill was being investigated by the Coast Guard, which received a report of the spill at 08:00 hrs. The Coast Guard said it has halted vessel traffic from the Outer Bridge Crossing to Fresh Kills, Staten Island.

14 February 2006

The Coast Guard is responding to an oil spill at the Chevron Perth Amboy facility, in Perth Amboy, NJ, that was reported yesterday, February 13. The spill occurred during a transfer of approximately 1.5 million gallons of number six heavy fuel oil from a barge to the facility. It is unknown how much of the product entered the water. A New York Police Department over-flight confirmed the spill stretching from the Chevron facility to Smoking Point, Staten Island, in the Arthur Kill. Chevron Perth Amboy has assumed responsibility for the spill and has contracted Clean Harbors and Atlantic Response to help with the cleanup. The Coast Guard has set up a safety zone from the Outer Bridge Crossing to Fresh Kills, Staten Island, to contain the spread of the spill. This area is closed to vessel traffic. Coast Guard investigators from Sector New York are on-scene overseeing the response.

According to the US Coast Guard vessel traffic service, what is believed to be a shore-side oil spill has closed the Channel down from AK Bridge (Fresh Kills) to the Outerbridge (Fresh Kills Reach – Port Reading Reach - Outerbridge Reach). All traffic, inbound and outbound, has been stopped in order to contain the spill.

15 February 2006

The clean-up of about 31,000 gallons of crude oil from the Arthur Kill continued today as crews used floating booms and large skimmers to contain a spill that had stretched from the Chevron plant here to Staten Island. The cause is still under investigation, said US Coast Guard Chief Tom Sperduto. Oil in the waterway today stretched roughly two miles from the Outerbridge Crossing to Fresh Kills, Staten Island, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Lutz. The area was closed to waterway traffic and booms were being used to contain the oil while skimmers were being used to make a path for ship traffic to pass, Lutz said. A statement released by the San Ramon, Calif.-based company Tuesday said that about 25,000 gallons of an oil and water mix had been recovered. State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said the agency hadn’t received any reports of environmental damage. But spots of oil remained at New Jersey’s Port Reading and at Mill Creek near Staten Island, she said. Nineteen boats, 8,000 feet of booms, five skimmers, and trucks equipped with vacuums to suck oil off the shoreline were being used in the cleanup, Makatura said. More than 90 people from state and local environmental agencies were on hand to help as well, with 40 more on standby, she said. A statement released Tuesday by Mayor Joseph Vas said the cleanup is “expected to be ongoing for a minimum of several weeks.” The Coast Guard said Chevron had assumed responsibility for the spill and had contracted with spill response companies to help with the cleanup.

16 February 2006

A Unified Incident Command comprised of Chevron Products Co., the US Coast Guard, the US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as state and city environmental agencies continues to respond to a crude oil spill in the Arthur Kill. The Arthur Kill has been reopened to marine traffic. The total volume of crude oil spilled is unchanged from the prior estimate of approximately 31,000 gallons. Approximately 29,400 gallons of oil-water mixture have been recovered. The Unified Incident Command’s priorities today are focused primarily on: Protecting human health and the environment, and continuing a safe, incident-free response; continuing oil recovery along both shores of the Arthur Kill and conducting detailed assessments of impacted areas and implementing response efforts. More than 300 personnel from the Unified Incident Command, including contractors, are on site working to manage response efforts and contain and clean up the spill. Approximately 8,300 feet of containment boom has been deployed. On-water oil recovery is being conducted by five oil-skimming vessels. Another 33 vessels are being used for a variety of purposes, such as deploying or maintaining containment and absorbent booms. Responders have also deployed four vacuum trucks and other equipment for the response effort. Work crews began removing oil residue from vessels on the Arthur Kill on Tuesday (February 14) and continued efforts overnight. Thus far, four vessels have been cleaned and nine vessels are to be cleaned. The cause of the spill is under investigation. Chevron is co-operating with regulatory agencies to determine the cause.