Incident News

On May 11, 2024, an unknown amount of waste oil from tank washings was discharged into Tucker's Bayou, a sub-estuary of Buffalo Bayou (aka Upper Houston Ship Channel) NRC#1398647. Oil-water mixture discharged from a drainage culvert into a heavily vegetated area in the upper end of the Tucker Bayou drainage. Sector Houston-Galveston notified NOAA SSC, and requested assistance with identifying potential listed species on-site and recommendations for clean-up methods.

On May 10, 2024, the NOAA SSC notified that a 46-foot fishing vessel caught fire and sank near Sandy Point, Washington near Lummi Bay. Local Fire, USCG and Washington Dept of Ecology on scene responding to incident. Sheen observed and believed to be diesel and/or motor oil. Max capacity of the boat was 400 gallons, with 300 gallons believed to be aboard. WA ECY is conducting IC-232/RAR for this incident.

The Alaska State OSC contacted the SSC by phone and email to the Alaska RRT co-chairs and members for DOC (NOAA) and DOI regarding a request from a responsible party to use a Subpart J bioremediation agent (Micro-Blaze) on diesel-contaminated soils along the Nenana River shoreline from a truck accident last November that released up to 120 gallons of diesel fuel. Due to winter conditions, the diesel was minimally recovered. The contaminated soil exceeds the State's cleanup levels but is too close to bridge abutments to allow for a complete excavation of the contamination.

On April 20, 2024, Energy Transfer reported a pinhole leak from a 30-inch pipeline in the West Cameron lease block. The discharge is reported as condensate from a natural gas line. The line is reported to be in the process of being shut in. On April 24, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO) requested NOAA SSC for a trajectory to evaluate if any surface oil was likely to reach Louisiana State waters.

On the morning of 19-APR, the NOAA NW RRO was notified by both NOAA Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and USCG Sector Puget Sound about the 32 ft Makah fishing vessel “Lil Monster” that sank in Makah Bay at 0330 during the halibut fishery opener. The max potential is 300 gallons of diesel fuel, currently no active sheen. Several crew members have been rescued, but USCG is still performing search and rescue (SAR) operations to locate one last crewmember.

On 17-APR-2024, USCG Sector Puget Sound IMD contacted NOAA NW RRO to report the Tug Island Venture is taking on water in South Puget Sound near the southeast corner of Squaxin Island. The report was later clarified that the tug was not taking on water, but rather it's 260 ft barge loaded with gravel that had started taking on water and was intentionally grounded on SE Squaxin Island.

On 15-APR, USCG Sector Puget Sound contacted NW RRO regarding a disabled 87ft USCG Patrol Boat near Dungeness Spit. The vessel was adrift 1,300 ft east of the northwestern extent of Dungeness Spit and disabled due to mechanical issues. The call was for notification and phone support of any sensitive resources in the area. The vessel was later repaired and able to get underway with no release of fuel or bilge waters.

On 09-APR, USCG Sector Columbia River contacted NOAA NW RRO to notify them of a sheen of potential crude oil reported by a USCG overflight 1.5 nautical miles offshore of North Bend, OR. The overflight occurred on 08-APR and described a patch of sheen, grey and brown in color with a sludge like appearance. The caller stated it appeared similar to crude oil releases from natural seeps that they have observed while working in California. No shoreline impact has been reported. USCG requested any NOAA information on natural seeps in the area. No other requests at this time.