Texas City Collision

TEXAS CITY, Texas — Response efforts continue overnight in response to a vessel incident, which occurred in the Houston Ship Channel Saturday afternoon.

Four skimming vessels remain on-scene to continue recovering spilled bunker fuel oil.  Officials with the unified command, who are overseeing the spill containment and recovery efforts, anticipate the ability to fully reactivate their efforts beginning at first light Sunday.

An additional 20 response vessels are staged and are prepared to resume operations early on Sunday.  Approximately 90,000 feet of boom have been staged along the Texas City dike for deployment in containment efforts.

The primary concern remains the safety of responders and the protection of the environment. To ensure the safety of response workers in the area, and to prevent the spread of oil into other areas of the channel and Galveston Bay, a safety zone has been established, which restricts vessel traffic in impacted waters. The Bolivar ferry remains closed with the exception of EMS transit.

Air monitoring continues to ensure the safety of workers and others in the area.

The incident response is being coordinated by a unified command, which consists of a wide variety of federal, state and local government agencies, non-profit organizations and the owners of the damaged barge, Kirby Inland Marine.  Coordinating agencies include the United States Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, and Galveston County Office of Emergency Management.  Other agencies participating in the response include U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Galveston City Office of Emergency Management, Texas City Office of Emergency Management, and the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health.

Response To Leaking Oil Platform Off Matagorda Island, Texas

The Matagorda Island 629L fixed oil platform holding tank is slowly leaking water, which acts as a buffer under medium crude oil product, about five miles off Matagorda Island, Texas, May 1, 2013. The Coast Guard and other federal, state and local agencies and responders are working to ensure the situation is mitigated, keeping the crude oil from entering the environment. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office oversee response to leaking oil platform.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Federal, state and local agencies and responders are working Wednesday to mitigate possible impact from an oil platform that has a small leak of water coming from a large tank that also contains crude oil and is located about five miles off Matagorda Island, Texas.

Water is currently being pumped into the tank faster than the estimated three gallon per minute release rate from the partially plugged half inch size hole.

The Matagorda Island 629L fixed oil platform holding tank is slowly leaking water,
which acts as a buffer under medium crude oil product, about five miles
 off Matagorda Island, Texas, May 1, 2013. The Coast Guard and other federal, state
 and local agencies and responders are working to ensure the situation is mitigated, keeping
thecrude oil from entering the environment. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Tuesday the Sabco Operating Company notified the Coast Guard of the leak on the bottom of a holding tank on Matagorda Island 629L fixed oil platform. The Coast Guard, partnering with local, state, and federal agencies, stood up an incident management team, to closely monitor the actions being taken by Sabco Operating Company and to ensure any environmental impact is minimized.

The tank consists of more than 300,000 gallons of medium crude oil product sitting on more than 150,000 gallons of water that acts as a buffer to prevent the release of product in the event a leak were to occur.

Sabco Operating Company arranged for the oil barge Andrea 2604 to arrive Thursday and is expected to have the product removed by Thursday afternoon.

Responders are on standby to quickly respond if needed throughout the evolution.

“Although presently anticipated to have minimal impact to the environment, Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi will be aggressively working with the responsible party and all of our partner agencies to properly execute the response to this potential threat,” said Coast Guard Capt. Randal Ogrydziak, the federal on scene coordinator for the response.

The incident management team consists of the Coast Guard, Sabco Operating Company, Texas General Land Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, U.S Fish and Wildlife, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Park Service.

The company has ceased all operations at the platform and is waiting for ultrasound testing of the material around the hole before attempting repairs to prevent further damage and greater discharge rates.

The Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack and Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopters will be on scene throughout this operation for crews to validate that all proper actions are being taken. The Coast Guard is asking all boaters to keep a safe distance of at least one half mile from the oil platform while responders work to resolve this potential threat.

Clean Up Continues After Tug Grounds In Buzzards

BOSTON-The Justice, a 93-foot tug boat, moored at the Mass. Maritime Academy, in Buzzards Bay, Mass. after running aground near the Stony Point Dyke, March 21, 2013. The sheen is reported to be gear oil from the tugs propulsion drive, which was damaged in the grounding. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Simpson.

BOSTON — Federal, state and local agencies continue to monitor clean up and recovery efforts today after a tugboat grounded at the southern end of Cape Cod Canal early March 21, closing the canal for several hours.

An incident command post was established at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to assess pollution, coordinate clean up efforts and the removal of debris left from the tug Justice that ran aground, damaging its propulsion system and discharging approximately 330 gallons of gear oil into the waters of Buzzards Bay.

BOSTON-The Coast Guard and partnership agencies work together and stage off absorbent boom to contain a spill in Buzzards Bay, Mass., March 21, 2013. The unified team worked together to contain gear oil that spilled after a 93-foot tugboat, Justice, grounded near the Stony Point Dyke, in Wareham, Mass., at Midnight. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Simpson.

BOSTON-A unified team of federal, state and port partners respond to an oil sheen in Buzzards Bay after the tugboat Justice grounded near the Stony Point Dyke, in Wareham, Mass., March 21, 2013. Agencies worked together to contain the spill by booming off areas and using absorbent pads. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ross Ruddell.

The incident remains under investigation.