The Importance of Regulations

When environmental catastrophes such as the tugboat oil spill happen, the importance of regulations is highlighted.

Dedicated activists and volunteers who have worked to improve the health of Buzzards Bay. deserve a salute!  



From the Buzzards Bay Coalition --

Bay Coalition in the Media - March 2013

Crews clean up Buzzards Bay oil spill
Wareham Courier
March 21, 2013
Tug runs aground in canal, spills oil
Cape Cod Times
March 21, 2013

 



 

Cape Cod Canal Oil Spill

Thursday

On March 21, 2013, a tugboat ran aground off Stony Point Dike near the mouth of Cape Cod Canal, spilling approximately 300-350 gallons of fuel oil into Buzzards Bay. Bay Coalition staff were on the scene to monitor the response and communicate with officials on the cleanup.

 

Tug runs aground in canal, spills oil

A boom surrounds the tugboat Justice Buzzards Bay after it ran
aground in the west end of the Cape Cod Canal early Thursday
morning.Cape Cod Times/Steve Heaslip

By K.C. MYERS
March 22, 2013

BUZZARDS BAY — A 93-foot tugboat ran aground Wednesday night near the west end of the Cape Cod Canal, spilling about 300 gallons of hydraulic oil, according to the vessel's owners.

The tugboat Justice hit the bottom near the Stony Point Dike, off Wareham, around midnight, Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam Stanton said.

The westbound tug, owned by Staten Island-based Reinauer Transportation Cos., was not pulling a vessel at the time of the accident, Stanton said.

However, the tug was with another boat at the time it went aground, said Ross Ruddell, public affairs specialist with the 1st Coast Guard District in Boston. Ruddell did not know the name of the other vessel.

The canal was closed to marine traffic for the morning, but had reopened by 1 p.m., according to Joseph Ferson, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

A statement posted on Reinauer's website said the tug lost its lower starboard drive unit, and the unit leaked 300 gallons of the 625 gallons of hydraulic oil contained within it.

The company said the crewman responsible for steering the tug was immediately administered alcohol and drug tests. The alcohol test was negative; the independent lab processing the drug test will have results in a few days, according to the statement.

The company said it is cooperating with the Coast Guard and working with an environmental company to clean up the hydraulic oil.

Ruddell said that Reinauer will be responsible for the cost of the cleanup, as well as any fines or penalties should they be levied. The Coast Guard and the Massachusetts Environmental Police are investigating, Ruddell said.

"Environmental safety is of the utmost importance to Reinauer — and care of the environment is paramount," Bert Reinauer, vice president, said in the statement. "As soon as we learned about the accident, our emergency team rushed to the scene with our environmental cleanup crew to contain and clean up the spill."

The cause of the accident is under investigation, Stanton said.

It's a small amount of fuel compared to the thousands of gallons that spilled in 2003 when the Tank Barge Bouchard No. 120. struck rocks and spilled 98,000 gallons of heavy oil into Buzzards Bay.

But even a small spill can harm shore birds, said Brendan Annett, vice president of watershed protection for the Buzzards Bay Coalition, a nonprofit that protects the bay.

Water fowl are particularly vulnerable right now, he said. Birds are migrating back from their winter grounds, while sea ducks, for example, are preparing to leave for the summer, he said.

No reports of oiled birds have been reported, but it is early in the cleanup, Ferson said.

The Justice was heading through the canal after leaving Boston, according to Moses Calouro, of Maritime Information Systems Inc., which develops Web-based software applications for the maritime industry and also tracks vessels equipped with automatic identification system transponders.

The tug is scheduled to undergo repairs at Senesco Drydock, according to the company's statement. Reinauer has already located the detached drive unit, used in steering the tug, and was sending a diver to prepare the unit to be removed from the bay with a crane barge on Thursday, the company statement said.

"We are very sorry this accident occurred, and we take responsibility for our actions," Reinauer said in the statement, "and we are devoting all our resources and working with the U.S. Coast Guard's investigation."

Annett said the accident underscores the need for laws, such as the Massachusetts Oil Spill Prevention Act of 2004, which requires tugboat escorts for single- and double-hulled oil barges.

"This shows that accidents do happen," Annett said. "I'm awfully glad that this wasn't an oil barge."


http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130322/NEWS/303220330/0/NEWSLETTER100