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by Massive Oil Spill |
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By Cat Lazaroff
Environmental News Service Photos: U.S. Coast Guard
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, (ENS) - Oil spill response crews are working on the lower Mississippi River to contain the largest spill in U.S. waters in more than a decade. About half a million gallons of crude oil spilled into the river 60 miles southeast of New Orleans after the 800 foot Bahamian flagged tanker Westchester ran aground on the east bank Tuesday night.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed 29 miles of the river to traffic, backing up the busy waterway. No human injuries were reported. The area is home to pelicans, shorebirds, seabirds, crabs, shrimp and sport fish, and about 100,000 wintering waterbirds. Two wildlife refuges are threatened by the drifting oil. The 800 foot Bahamian flagged tanker Westchester went aground on the east bank of the river 6:20 pm local time on Tuesday, spilling 13,500 barrels - the equivalent of a half million gallons of oil - into the river. The Nigerian sweet crude oil spilled from the tanker's No. 1 starboard cargo tank after part of an engine exploded, cutting power to much of the ship. The single hulled vessel grounded in Plaquemines Parish, where the cargo tank may have been punctured by debris on the river bottom, or by the ship's own anchor, the Coast Guard reported. No more oil is entering the river, the Coast Guard said. Divers are working to assess the damage to the ship. Plaquemines Parish closed its drinking water intakes from the river and supplied bottled water to residents after the spill. Parish president Benny Rousselle declared a state of emergency Wednesday. About 40 to 50 percent of Louisiana's oysters are found in beds in along the river in Plaquemines Parish and could be damaged or destroyed by the spill, said Mike Voisin, chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force. Some 30 vessels, 100 contract personnel, 37,000 feet of containment boom and oil skimming equipment have been deployed on the Mississippi to clean up the spill. Containment booms are in place in several high priority points, the Coast Guard said. About 29 miles of the Mississippi, between Port Sulfur and Venice, were closed until late Wednesday, when the waterway was reopened to one way traffic upriver. Eleven vessels were still waiting to move down river this morning, and the backup is expected to build. There were no injuries reported in the grounding, but there have been initial reports of wildlife caught in the oil, and Tri-State Bird of Delaware has been called to begin wildlife rescue operations if necessary, the Coast Guard said. Two major wintering grounds for waterfowl are located about 25 miles downriver of the spill site. At least 200,000 birds are now wintering in the 49,000 acre Delta National Wildlife Refuge, while more are located in the nearby 100,000 acre Pass-a-Loutre State Wildlife Management Area.
The Westchester was traveling upriver to the Equiline Facility in St. James with its cargo from Sabine, Texas, when the accident occurred. The vessel is owned by Marine Oil Trader 3 LTD of Monrovia, Liberia, and operated by ERMIS Maritime Corp. of Paraeus, Greece. Under U.S. law, all tankers operating in U.S. waters will need to be built with two hulls by 2015 to help prevent spills. The Westchester was slated to be upgraded with a double hull in 2006, said Virginia Miller, a spokesperson for the ship's owner and operator. The spill is the largest to occur in U.S. waters since the Exxon Valdez dumped more than 10 million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. |
By Wednesday evening, patches of oil from the spill had floated to within about three miles of the Gulf of Mexico, where the refuges lie at the river's mouth. But winds kept the slick up against the river bank across from the refuges.
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