The 112-foot freight barge Vengeance after capsizing near Yerba Buena Island, Calif., April 7, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
SAN FRANCISCO — A unified command comprised of the U.S. Coast Guard, California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, Vortex Marine Construction and Bay Area Rapid Transit has been established in response to the sunken 112-foot freight barge Vengeance leaking diesel fuel south of the Bay Bridge, Friday.
State and federal responders and investigators are on site executing cleanup strategies for a maximum potential release of 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid.
Divers from Global Diving and Salvage conducted an initial underwater assessment and plugged the leaking fuel vent Friday afternoon.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew is scheduled to conduct an overflight and divers are scheduled to conduct another underwater assessment Saturday morning. Responders will be on scene prepared to deploy boom.
While no impact to the shoreline has been detected, the responding agencies continue to prioritize and prepare for potential impacts to environmentally sensitive sites.
No visibly oiled wildlife has been reported or observed at this time, but crews are monitoring for them. Anyone seeing oiled wildlife should not attempt to capture them but should report the sightings to 1-877-UCD-OWCN.
