Barge Collision Spills Gasoline In Houston Ship Channel
BAYPORT, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Multiple vessels have collided in the Houston Ship Channel, spilling an unknown volume of a toxic gasoline product and forcing the partial closure of the commercial waterway.
The U.S. Coast Guard says a 755-foot tanker collided with a tugboat pushing two barges near Bayport, Texas, on Friday afternoon, capsizing one of the barges and damaging another. No injuries were reported.
The Coast Guard says each barge was carrying an estimated 25,000 barrels of reformate and that an unknown volume of the gasoline product spilled.
Port Houston spokeswoman Lisa Ashley says reformate is colorless, flammable and toxic to aquatic life.
Fire and oil spill response boats arrived at the site of the collision, and air monitoring was being conducted along the shoreline.