Fishing Ban Lifted in Petaluma River After Oil Spill

CALIFORNIA - Fishing was banned Tuesday along a 2 miles stretch of the Petaluma River following a spill from a tugboat being dismantled in a cove along the waterway.

The 60-foot tugboat was being dismantled for scrap metal when it leaked the oil. Officials estimated between 200 and 600 gallons of oil leaked from the vessel.

Officials lifted the ban Wednesday morning after ensuring the spill was contained.

Clean-up crews are still checking the marshes and smaller streams in the area for contamination. Booms have been put in place along the river to keep the spill contained, and vacuum trucks took in hundreds of gallons of oily water.

The cove where the dismantling was taking places is a 175-foot inlet off the Petaluma River, where several industrial companies have their operations. The tugboat is owned and was being dismantled by ATOP TRC Inc.

Petaluma is a river in the California counties of Sonoma and Marin.

Photo courtesy of the Press Democrat