Barge spills fuel oil off coast of Massachusetts

FALMOUTH, Mass. -- A ruptured barge spilled at least 14,700 gallons of fuel oil in Buzzards Bay, a prime shellfishing area on the Massachusetts coast, the Coast Guard said Monday.

State officials closed most of the bay to shellfishing Monday as a precaution.

The barge was en route from Philadelphia to Sandwich, Mass., and was being towed by a tug boat when it apparently hit a rock or the bay's bottom and ruptured Sunday afternoon, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mary Landry.

By Monday afternoon, the leak from the 12-foot-by-2-foot crack in the single-hulled barge had been contained. But the clean-up was hampered by blustery winds that began pushing the oil toward shore, said Steve Lehmann of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

By late afternoon, the oil had killed at least four loons and a duck. Other oily fowl were taken to a nearby zoo for treatment, but were not expected to survive, said Tom O'Shea of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

"At this point, it's not a large number, but we're sure it will change," he said.

The barge was built in 1975 and is owned by Bouchard Transportation Co. of Hicksville, N.Y. The company brought a barge from New York to transfer fuel out of the damaged barge, Landry said, and also contracted scuba divers to inspect the hull of the 376-foot vessel.

"We certainly apologize to the citizens of Massachusetts," said Morton Bouchard, president and CEO of Bouchard. He said the company was cooperating with authorities.

The tug pilot, who was properly licensed, underwent drug and alcohol tests. Results will take a couple days, Landry said.

The bay produces primarily quahogs, softshell clams, scallops and oysters.

The closure of shellfish beds will affect most of the bay, except for the northernmost portion leading into the Cape Cod Canal, said Dave Whittaker, a senior marine fisheries biologist at state Division of Marine Fisheries. He said the bay was an active spot for commercial shellfishing at this time of year.

In February, an explosion and fire killed two people when a Bouchard-owned barge was unloading gasoline at the Exxon Mobil depot on New York's Staten Island. The incident is still under investigation. A Bouchard barge captain also was found to be legally drunk during an oil spill last year in New York's East River.

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On the Net

Division of Marine Fisheries: www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dmf/

Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc.: www.bouchardtransport.com/Contacts.htm