Biggest in U.S. Since Valdez; Part of Mississippi Shut

The Associated Press N E W O R L E A N S, Nov. 30 — Cleanup crews are working to contain a half-million gallons of crude oil that spilled from a tanker into shellfish beds and bird sanctuaries along the lower Mississippi River. The area is about 70 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and is home to abundant wildlife, including pelicans, shorebirds, crabs, spotted sea trout, and flounder, as well as more than 100,000 wintering waterfowl. Some were covered with oil from the spill. “We’ve observed some impact to some birds, such as white pelicans,” said Roland Guidry, a state oil spill coordinator. Shipping Lanes Closed The Coast Guard closed shipping lanes on a 26-mile stretch of the river below New Orleans after the 800-foot Westchester lost power and ran aground Tuesday night.

Traffic upriver resumed late Wednesday. The Coast Guard could allow downriver traffic as early as this morning, Capt. Stephen Rochon said.

More than 30 ships and 100 workers were contracted to work at least the next three days in the cleanup and containment effort. Workers from a nonprofit Delaware corporation were expected to arrive Thursday to help rescue animals that were exposed to the oil.

Ran Aground The Westchester ran aground at Port Sulphur, about 42 miles south-southeast of New Orleans and 60 miles down the winding river. The ship lost power when part of the engine exploded. No one was injured. It was en route from Sabine Pass, Texas, to St. James, about 50 miles east of New Orleans. The vessel’s single-hull cargo tank holding about 53,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil — more than 2.2 million gallons — lost about 13,500 barrels, said Virginia Miller, spokeswoman for the ship’s owner and operator. A barrel of oil contains 42 U.S. gallons. The river bottom apparently plugged the hole and kept the rest from escaping, Miller said. She said divers were trying to assess the damage.

Biggest U.S. Spill Since Valdez The 567,000-gallon spill is the largest in U.S. waters since the Exxon Valdez dumped more than 10 million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska, in March 1989. “Even if this doesn’t compare in size to the Exxon Valdez, it’s a significant spill,” said Lisa Speer of the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. The Westchester is registered in the Bahamas, and owned by Marine Oil Trader 3 Ltd. of Liberia. It was built in 1981 with a single, steel skin, and was scheduled to be upgraded to a double hull in 2006, Miller said. Most modern ships have double hulls to prevent spills, and by 2015, federal law will require all tankers operating in U.S. waters to have double hulls. The Coast Guard will investigate the accident, in part to determine whether human error or equipment failure caused the explosion and spill, Rochon said.

On Nov. 27, 1998, in New Orleans, the Coast Guard cited the Westchester for a leaking pneumatic engine valve after an equipment failure, according to Coast Guard inspection records. The vessel received a good report four months ago at an annual check during a port call in Corpus Christi,

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/spill001130.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 30, 2000

Answers

Thursday November 30, 10:43 am Eastern Time Southbound Mississippi still shut, 35 ships queued NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A 13-mile (21-km) section of the lower Mississippi River remained shut to southbound traffic on Thursday after a crude oil spill on Tuesday, keeping some 35 ships from entering the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said.

Northbound traffic was opened up on Wednesday evening as planned and the Coast Guard expected southbound traffic would reopen sometime Thursday morning.

But 35 ships were queued up and many others up the Mississippi were not leaving their origination points because of the delays, said Petty Officer Mark Mackowiak.

``Its basically cargoes, tankers and tug boats pushing barges,'' said Mackowiak.

Miles 29 to 16 on the river remained closed to southbound traffic as 150 workers cleaned up Tuesday's spill.

The Westchester a Bahamian-flagged crude oil tanker ran aground near the mouth of the river around 6 p.m. on Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday) spilling about 13,500 barrels Nigerian crude oil.

Oil refiners Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM - news) and Orion Refining Corp. who have plants along the river, said Wednesday the shut-in did not affect their refinery production.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/001130/n30178346.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 30, 2000.