Cleanup Firm Reports 12,000 Gallon Oil Spill
On Tuesday, state authorities, private contractors, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard continued their response to a spill of crude oil in Bayou Teche, Louisiana.
Environmental remediation contractors PSC Industrial Outsourcing informed the Coast Guard on Monday evening that some 12,000 gallons of crude had escaped onshore confinement during a tank transfer operation. An unknown quantity of the crude entered Bayou Teche.
As of Tuesday, the slick was reportedly headed east towards Charenton, Louisiana. Spill response contractors American Pollution Control (no relation to PSC) deployed 4,000 feet of hard boom, the Coast Guard said; shore to shore hard boom with sorbent boom was also placed on the east and west boundaries of the spill.
Over 50 personnel, six barges, nine skimmers and a surveillance helicopter are assisting in the response.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Lieutenant Junior Grade Lisa Siebert told the Associated Press that much of the spill was on shore, and that that portion of the cleanup will be supervised by the EPA. She said that investigators suspect a failed full tank alarm and an open valve on an overflow tank in the spill, but the investigation into the cause is ongoing. She suggested that PSC was paying for the cleanup effort.
The Coast Guard said that the bayou will be closed to traffic between Jeanerette and Charenton until further notice.
PSC Industrial Outsourcing, based in Houston, is a services firm specializing in remediation, decontamination, tank cleaning, facilities abandonment and waste disposal, among other activities. Its safety management system is based on the trademarked Loss Prevention System (LPS).
As of Tuesday PSC's representatives had not responded to media requests for comment. Authorities have not yet named the owner of the facility at which the spill occurred.