PORT ISABEL, Texas — The Coast Guard, TGLO and other state and local responders worked throughout the day Wednesday to recover low sulfur diesel fuel that was spilled late Tuesday night in the Port Isabel Channel.
Tuesday at 11:24 p.m., watchstanders at Sector Corpus Christi received a report that the a barge in tow of the towing vessel, Capt. Jim Green, allided with a dock at the Subsea 7 facility in the channel.
Additional estimates of fuel remaining in the barge were taken by an inspector Wednesday, which revealed that the amount spilled was approximately 5,000 gallons, substantially less than the preliminary estimate of approximately 20,000 gallons. Of the amount that did leave the damaged tank, as much as 2,000 gallons were trapped in voids in the barge and did not enter the water.
Winds were favorable throughout the day, pushing the diesel into areas that enabled responders to maximize recovery efforts. They also deployed approximately 6,000 feet of boom to contain the diesel. More than 2,500 gallons of diesel/water mix were recovered throughout the day. Significant amounts of the diesel that could not be quickly recovered will not be recoverable due to the viscosity of the product.
A Unified Command consisting of the Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and Kirby Inland Marine was established in response to the allision and diesel spill. Miller Environmental, an oil spill response organization, is currently on scene conducting air monitoring and oil recovery operations. The source of the spill has been secured.
There have been no reported impacts to wildlife at this time.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.