COLONIAL BEACH, Va. — The Coast Guard concluded cleanup operations for an oil spill from a partially sunken vessel in Colonial Beach on Friday.
Cleanup efforts started after a vessel partially sank at a pier and began discharging oil from its fuel tanks late Sunday night. Early Monday morning, pollution responders from Coast Guard Sector Virginia responded to the scene and federalized the case to mitigate the threat of pollution from the environment.
An oil spill recovery organization was contracted and responded to the scene where they removed approximately 350 gallons of oily water mix from the vessel and 10 bags of oiled sorbent material.
Sorbent boom was placed around the vessel to mitigate any potential residual oil throughout several tidal cycles. After conducting on-site assessments where no oil was observed, pollution teams removed the sorbent boom on Friday.
Other Agencies Involved in the Response:
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
- Virginia Department of Emergency Management
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission
- Westmoreland County Emergency Management
- Colonial Beach Volunteer Fire Department
