Saturday, a collision between a barge and a ship resulted in partial sinking of the barge and the spill of at least 160,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Houston Ship Channel. Clean up and air monitoring is underway. Some reports indicate that the ship channel is closed to traffic.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported “This is an extremely serious spill. This is a persistent oil. It’s a large quantity. It will spread. People should be aware of that.”
For more details:
Galveston County Daily News, Dike, ports closed after barge collides with ship
KTRK TV Houston, Oil spills into Houston ship channel after barge and tanker collide
Marinelink.com Houston Ship Channel Tankbarge: Incident Update