An estimated 4,000-barrel of fuel oil spill led to a temporary closure of the Houston Ship Channel, following the partial sinking of the barge that holds about 22,000 barrels or 924,000 gallons of ship fuel on Galveston Bay in Texas City, Texas on Saturday.
This came after a collision between the Kirby Inland Marine oil barge and a 585-foot bulk carrier Summer Wind, said the U.S. Coast Guard. A call reporting the collision came at around 12:35 p.m. on that day.
The Coast Guard also estimated the oil spill at as much as 168,000 gallons and detected to have reached 12 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
"This is a significant spill," said Capt. Brian Penoyer, the Coast Guard commander of the Houston-Galveston. He also disclosed that the situation led to blocking of around 60 vessels, which include cruise ships, from making its way through the channel.
Reports from the Coast Guard reveal six crew members have injuries but are now in stable condition.
The barge, before being struck, was in tow to Bolivar Peninsula by the vessel Miss Susan. Cargo ships and oil barges navigate from the Gulf Coast to refiners and terminals further inland through the Houston Ship Channel, making the latter among the busiest waterways in the world for moving petrochemicals.
"We're very concerned. We're focused on cleaning up," said Jim Guidry, the executive vice president of Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine Corp, assuring that his company takes responsibility of all the costs. Kirby is the largest inland barge company in the country.
"The primary concern remains the safety of responders and the protection of the environment," the Coast Guard also says in a statement.
Emergency responders were hard at work in clearing the remaining contents in the barge, with the initial deployment of four vessels. On Sunday, 20 more response vessels, together with 90,000 feet of boom, joined the clearing.
The office of Texas Governor Rick Perry, however, releases a statement Sunday evening that the barge was no longer on the waters. Penoyer also confirmed this, but no word released yet as to when the major US shipping channel will be back in business.
Government officials and environmentalists, meanwhile, expressed worry over the oil spill that happened along a migratory route for birds just in time for seasonal migration. It said the spill threatens birds at a nearby wildlife sanctuary.
Houston Audubon Society conservation director Richard Gibbons said he already received reports and photos of oiled birds at the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. The sanctuary attracts 50,000 to 70,000 shorebirds yearly to its shallow mud flats. He identified the oiled birds that flew into the sanctuary: American white pelicans, laughing gulls and ruddy. He also said some shore birds apparently came with oil. Though their staff has yet to see the oily sheen on the waters, they initially reported of smelling the oil on the shore.
"There could be hundreds or thousands of birds of various species in the area affected by the spill," said Tom Harvey of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He shared that a department scientist, who is part of the spill response, recovered a duck and a loon described to be covered with sticky black oil. These came from the East Beach area of Galveston, which faces the channel.
Handling the investigation on the oil spill case are the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard.
