Ship spills 30,000 gallons of oil near Philadelphia

U.S. Coast Guard helping in Delaware River cleanup

Saturday, November 27, 2004 Posted: 4:58 PM EST (2158 GMT)

(CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard is helping clean up an oil spill in the Delaware River near Philadelphia on Saturday, one day after after a ship leaked an estimated 30,000 gallons (113,560 liters) of crude into the waterway.

The Cyprus-flagged vessel Athos 1 was carrying about 325,000 gallons of oil.

The spill was contained as of about noon ET Saturday and assessment teams were working to determine the extent of any environmental damage, Coast Guard spokesman Patrick Montgomery told CNN. "We take any amount of oil in our waterways very seriously."

Oil spills in the area are rare, Montgomery said.

The vessel first called the Coast Guard about 9:15 p.m. Friday to report the leak.

"When they were pulling into the Citgo facility in Paulsboro, New Jersey, they were at an eight-degree list, which means the vessel was leaning a bit," Petty Officer John Edwards told Philadelphia's WPVI-TV. "They noticed product in the water, and that's when they noticed they had a problem."

Paulsboro is just across the river from Philadelphia. A portion of the river, from the Walt Whitman Bridge to the Commodore Barry Bridge, was closed.

The Coast Guard has hired several environmental contractors to help clean up the spill. About 110 people were working the site, and some 10,000 feet of boom was set up to contain the spill. Also, 10 skimming boats were working to separate the oil from the water, Edwards said.

Edwards said it would take "days" to clean up the 10-mile portion of the river. There were no reports of wildlife being endangered, he said.

"Environmental protection is the Coast Guard's long-standing mission, and we're out there with these other groups getting this cleaned up as quickly and effectively as possible," he said.

The cause of the leak remained under investigation Saturday, and the ship was anchored in a creek.

Other vessels were lined up, waiting to pass through the area.