PORT ISABEL, Texas — The Coast Guard lifted the safety zone and approved a vessel transit plan Thursday, that allowed the damaged barge to move to a facility on the Brownsville Ship Channel to offload the diesel the barge was carrying.
Response crews began to focus on recovering small pockets of remaining diesel in the Port Isabel Channel, after the unified command had accounted for a majority of the spilled product.
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, which caused the release of approximately 5,000 gallons of the low sulfur diesel fuel one of the barges was carrying.
The Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and other state and local responders arrived quickly after the incident occurred and began response efforts with the barge owner to mitigate impacts from the spill and recover the diesel from the water. Miller Environmental was activated as the oil spill response organization and began cleanup operations. Other contractors were also hired to assist with cleanup operations.
There have been no reported impacts to wildlife.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.
Photos from the response are posted on the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System at DVIDShub.net.