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Barge collision, fire, oil spill prompt shutdown near Houston Ship Channel
A BARGE collision, a fire, and an oil spill have resulted in the partial shutdown near the Houston Ship Channel by the US Coast Guard, reports American Shipper.
The Intracoastal Waterway, running between barrier islands and the coast along the Gulf of Mexico, was shut from where it intersects the Houston Ship Channel to Mile Market 350 on the waterway.
The Houston Ship Channel itself, which supplies the nation's busiest petrochemical port, remained open after the collision shortly after 1am local time.
The shutdown occurred after two barges collided, setting one on fire and triggering a spill of a volatile gasoline additive near the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel, said the US Coast Guard said.
The fire was extinguished after more than four hours on one of the barges, which also spilled one million gallons of naphtha, a volatile refined product often used as a gasoline additive, into the waterway.
A dispatcher for the Houston ship pilots association said vessels moving on the Ship Channel near the Inter Coastal Waterway entrance were moving at a slower speed.
The collision occurred when both the barges were being hauled by tug boats and one of the tugs lost power, the Coast Guard said.
It was unclear what environmental impact the spill would have. The Environmental Protection Administration referred all questions to the coast guard.
The Intracoastal Waterway, running between barrier islands and the coast along the Gulf of Mexico, was shut from where it intersects the Houston Ship Channel to Mile Market 350 on the waterway.
The Houston Ship Channel itself, which supplies the nation's busiest petrochemical port, remained open after the collision shortly after 1am local time.
The shutdown occurred after two barges collided, setting one on fire and triggering a spill of a volatile gasoline additive near the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel, said the US Coast Guard said.
The fire was extinguished after more than four hours on one of the barges, which also spilled one million gallons of naphtha, a volatile refined product often used as a gasoline additive, into the waterway.
A dispatcher for the Houston ship pilots association said vessels moving on the Ship Channel near the Inter Coastal Waterway entrance were moving at a slower speed.
The collision occurred when both the barges were being hauled by tug boats and one of the tugs lost power, the Coast Guard said.
It was unclear what environmental impact the spill would have. The Environmental Protection Administration referred all questions to the coast guard.
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