Published just a few minutes ago by the Associated Press.
McALLEN, Texas (AP) - A barge carrying nearly a million gallons of especially thick, sticky oil collided with a ship in Galveston Bay on Saturday, spilling an unknown amount of the fuel into the popular bird habitat just as the peak of the migratory shorebird season was approaching...
Jim Suydam, spokesman for the General Land Office, described the type of oil the barge was carrying as "sticky, gooey, thick, tarry stuff."
"That stuff is terrible to have to clean up," he said.
Mild weather and calm water seemed to help containment efforts, but stormy weather was forecast for the area on Sunday. Suydam said almost every private cleanup outfit in the area was out there helping out under the coordination of the Coast Guard and General Land Office.
When will they ever learn. - Pete Seeger.
I'm still waiting for the first massive solar power spill.
If I had anything to say, other than shaking my head and muttering, believe me I would say it.
Richard Gibbons, conservation director of the Houston Audubon Society, did have this to say:
"The timing really couldn't be much worse since we're approaching the peak shorebird migration season."
8:01 PM PT: Video of a local news report on the spill.
8:10 PM PT: A picture from today of the Summer Wind, being towed by a barge, which collided with the Miss Susan.
8:12 PM PT: Oops. That's not quite right above. The Summer Wind collided with an unnamed barge, which was being towed by the Miss Susan.
8:14 PM PT: A report and a set of photos from the Houston Chronicle.
"This is an extremely serious spill," Cpt. Brian Penoyer of the U.S. Coast Guard. "It is a persistent oil."
8:18 PM PT:
This is the second collision near the Texas City dike in just over a week. On March 14, a 394-foot cargo ship carrying grain collided with a barge carrying 840,000 gallons of #6 fuel oil just north of the so-called "Texas City Y." Rice spilled, but no fuel oil leaked, helping advert a "major environmental incident," Coast Guard officials said at the time.
8:35 PM PT:
They closed a tidal gate where Moses Lake connects with Galveston Bay, said Greg Pollock, deputy commissioner of the oil spill prevention response program of the Texas General Land Office.
Fog and darkness hampered clean-up efforts Saturday.
"First light in the morning is going to be a huge effort to determine where this oil has moved," he said.