Americas News
Spirit of Sacramento Petroleum Product Removal Completed
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has announced the petroleum product removal on the Spirit of Sacramento was completed last Wednesday.
As Ship & Bunker previously reported, USCG responded to a report on September 4 that the 87-foot vessel was taking on water, which later led to the vessel capsizing.
USCG says it has since worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other partner agencies in order to have the petroleum products removed from the vessel.
Global Diving and Salvage, Inc. (Global Diving and Salvage) is said to have conducted the operation, removing approximately 130 gallons of oily water mixture from the vessel.
The Spirit of Sacramento is said to have been righted and dewatered September 28 and arrived at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility in Sausalito on September 30.
USCG says it has transferred the Spirit of Sacramento to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has plans to remove hazardous material from the vessel at a later date.
USCG also notes that it intends work with the EPA if residual lube oils and other petroleum pollutants are discovered during the EPA abatement process.
The righting, dewatering, and petroleum pollution removal for the vessel is said to have been funded with approximately $1.6 million from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
On the same day as the Spirit of Sacremento capsized, USCG also announced that the Houston Ship Channel had been closed in a more than one mile section after a bunker spill followed a fire on Panama-flagged Aframax River the previous evening.
