Why Should Delaware Care?
Oil in waterways is harmful to aquatic life, as well as birds. Major spills can have drastic effects on local ecosystems, as well as slow operations. The Port of Wilmington is the state’s largest shipping facility and officials have plans to drastically increase its size.
More than a thousand gallons of oil likely spilled into the Christina River at the Port of Wilmington last week during an early-morning shift when crews were pumping liquid fuel from a docking berth to a barge.
The U.S. Coast Guard initially estimated the size of the fuel oil spill as up to 8,400 gallons, but a statement on Monday from Buckeye Partners – an oil company that operates at the port – placed it at 1,260 gallons.
On Thursday – the day of the incident – a Coast Guard spokeswoman said there was no immediate threat to wildlife or people, but stated that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been notified and were expected to send out crews to assess any environmental risks from the spill.
Those agencies have not released any subsequent reports in the days since.
“We, for the most part, have it contained in the Christina River,” said the spokeswoman, Petty Officer Olinda Romero on Thursday, noting that a 1,700 foot-long oil boom has been placed in the water outside the port’s berths.
The Coast Guard also set up a “safety zone” around the spill, and barred boats from entering or leaving the Christina River in the area, Romero said. Boat traffic on the Christina River is now open for commercial vessels, but they must notify the Coast Guard before entering the port, Romero said.
The safety zone is still in effect for non-commercial vessels, she said on Monday.
On Thursday, crews could be seen deploying the oil containment boom into the Christina River. By Monday morning, Romero said those crews deployed a new 2,600-foot boom to continue cleanup operations.
Faith Zerbe, a water watch director for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said the organization didn’t mobilize for this spill.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network is a nonprofit group that pursues litigation, does monitoring, as well as advocacy around issues involving the Delaware River. While Zerbe noted cleanup operations seem to be going well, she noted that “small spills add up.”
“Every drop adds to contamination over time,” she said.
The Port of Wilmington sits at the confluence of the Christina and Delaware rivers. It’s a major importer of bananas, pineapples, juice concentrates, and vehicles.
Romero said the Coast Guard was alerted to the spill at around 5 a.m. Thursday morning. She said it occurred as crews from Buckeye Partners were loading “fuel oil” onto a barge.
The barge has since been cleaned and moved out of the Buckeye terminal, Romero said.
A photo shared by a port employee showed an oily sheen sitting on the water near a port docking berth.
The EPA requires that oil spills into navigable waters be reported to the federal government.
“Oil spill reporting does not depend on the specific amount of oil spilled, but on the presence of a visible sheen created by the spilled oil,” according to the EPA’s website.
