SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard pollution investigators responded Tuesday to a report of an oil discharge at the active construction site between Piers 6 and 7 in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard pollution investigators are actively monitoring cleanup and recovery efforts and investigating to find the origin and amount of the discharge.
Construction site personnel are conducting efforts to locate the unidentified underground point of discharge to shut down the source and prevent further oil from spilling into the water, and they have activated two Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSRO) to conduct cleanup and recovery operations.
OSRO contractors have deployed oil containment boom into the water across Piers 6 and 7 and have also placed containment boom in the immediate area of the discharge to avoid further spread of the material. They are also utilizing oil recovery equipment such as absorbent boom, absorbent pads and vacuum truck oil collectors to recover spilled material from the water.
Coast Guard Sector San Juan command center watchstanders were initially contacted by a National Response Center representative at approximately 3p.m. Tuesday, who reported that an unknown amount and type of oil was discharging from and unknown source at the construction site into San Juan Harbor.
Coast Guard Sector San Juan watchstanders and pollution response personnel proceeded to contact federal, state and municipal emergency response authorities, to include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, and San Juan Municipal Office of Emergency Management among others to advise them of the situation.
