A collision between a massive tanker and two oil barges has resulted in as much as tens of thousands of gallons of a gasoline product leaking into a shipping channel near Houston.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed the accident, which took place about 3:30 p.m. local time, in the Houston Ship Channel, near Bayport, Texas. A 755-foot tanker collided with a tug pushing two barges filled with 25,000 gallons of reformate each.
The hull of the tanker punctured two of the barges’ four storage tanks, Jim Guidry, executive Vice President of Kirby Corporation, which owns the barges, said at a Saturday morning press conference, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“The bow of the ship went through the port tank into the starboard tank, so there was no way to secure the source of the leak,” Guidry said, according to the newspaper “Those two tanks were open to the sea.”
Reformate is an intermediate stage in the production of gasoline and is colorless, flammable and toxic to marine life.
Air monitoring tests were completed overnight and results released on Saturday morning found there was no danger to the public found, according to Houston ABC station KTRK. .
Officials said that 26 teams of air monitors have taken over 1300 samples. All samples have not exceeded actionable levels.
Here is an estimate of where the gasoline-like odor from the barge collision may reach overnight (Midnight to 6 am). The stronger order will be mainly east of I-45 from near Webster to Bayport. pic.twitter.com/iElSvH0LDj
— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) May 11, 2019
Reformate is an intermediate stage in the production of gasoline and is colorless, flammable and toxic to marine life.
SHIP CHANNEL COLLISION: look at the impact of a crash involving a barge, carrying a toxic gas product, and a tanker. https://t.co/mwIMUrypcu #abc13 pic.twitter.com/5c8TIYECMC
— Jessica Willey (@ImJessicaWilley) May 11, 2019
It is still unclear how much of the product has leaked into the water, officials said.
Eyewitnesses said they could see an oily sheen on the water and the smell was very strong.
"We know the air is coming this way. The flow is coming this way. We are definitely going to monitor everything," Mayor Jeff Wagner, of Pasadena, Texas told KTRK.
One of the barges capsized, while the other was severely damaged, according to the Coast Guard. Video from on scene showed one barge nearly sliced in half as a result of the collision.