Coast Guard having trouble cleaning thick oil spill

FAIRHAVEN, Mass. -- Crews had trouble cleaning up oil Tuesday from a spill in a prime shellfishing area west of Cape Cod that has threatened several species of birds and fish.

Coast Guard officials said the heavy industrial oil that spilled from a barge in Buzzards Bay was "clumping together," making it difficult for recovery vessels to skim it off the surface.

"The skimming doesn't appear to be working for us," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Phyllis Gamache-Jensen. Skimming operations were suspended and officials focused on other methods of protecting sensitive areas, such as setting up more containment booms.

Winds were forecast to shift overnight, giving cleanup crews hope that the worst of the remaining oil might shift to open waters where skimmers could make another attempt to collect it.

Environmental officials were still assessing the impact of Sunday's 14,700-gallon spill, and they were optimistic that the weather would start making the cleanup job easier.

Officials said it was particularly unfortunate that the spill happened just as many birds are nesting and fish are gathering for spawning runs.

"The timing is horrendous," said Wayne Peterson, a field ornithologist from the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

State and federal officials said workers were attempting to keep the slick away from two islands where about 1,400 pairs of endangered roseate terns -- nearly half of all those that nest in the Western Hemisphere -- are due to arrive from South America this week to nest.

The tiny white birds with a black cap and a delicate blush of pink on their breasts are especially at risk from the oil because they dive into the water to catch fish, Peterson said.

The spill is already harming the threatened piping plover. Oil has contaminated at six of those birds and one nest, said Diana Weaver, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Workers at the Buttonwood Zoo in New Bedford were trying to save more than a half-dozen oiled loons and other birds.

Birds can both ingest oil and get it on their feathers, which destroys their natural insulation and leaves them vulnerable to the cold waters of early spring. "It's like an open wound," Peterson said.

A seal covered with oil was also spotted, but attempts to capture the animal were unsuccessful, said Mark Rasmussen, executive director of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay.

The spill also is hurting commercial shellfishermen who catch quahogs, softshell clams, scallops and oysters from the bay. State officials shut down shellfishing Monday in all the bay except the northernmost portion leading into the Cape Cod Canal.

"Everybody wants our oysters every day and I can't get it to them," said Rod Taylor of Taylor Cultured Seafood, who estimated his aquaculture operation was losing $2,000 to $3,000 a day because of the closure.

The Coast Guard is investigating why the barge that leaked the oil, owned by Bouchard Transportation Co., entered shallower waters, and has performed drug and alcohol tests on the crew. Results of the tests were not immediately available.

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On the Net:

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