Video shows splotches of oil had spilled from the barge into Galveston Bay. Jeff Davis of the Texas General Land Office said during a news conference Thursday that early cleanup efforts have not id…
Officials respond after the Pelican Island Bridge was closed when a passing barge struck one of its supports, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Galveston, Texas.GALVESTON, Texas — Early estimates indicate up to 2,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into surrounding waters when a barge carrying fuel broke free from a tugboat and slammed into a bridge near Galveston, Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
The barge has the capacity to hold 30,000 barrels, but was holding 23,000 barrels — approximately 966,000 gallons — when it struck the bridge, Rick Freed, the vice president of barge operator Martin Marine, said at the news conference. Freed said the only tank that was compromised in the crash was holding approximately 160,000 gallons, which is the “complete risk.”
The Coast Guard said earlier that it had deployed a boom, or barrier, to contain the spill, which forced the closure of about 6.5 miles of the waterway. On Thursday, the barge remained beside the bridge, weighed in place by debris including rail lines that fell onto it after the crash. “Given the rapidly changing conditions and uncertainty regarding the outage of the Pelican Island Bridge, the Galveston Campus administration will be relocating all Texas A&M Pelican Island residents,” through at least Sunday, it said in a statement late Wednesday.
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