Sunken Dredge Spills 500-Foot Diesel Sheen Onto Lake Huron
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Jul 20, 2012 9:20PM
A capsized tugboat and a sunken dredge have leaked an unknown amount of diesel fuel into Lake Huron near Lakeport, Mich., about 65 miles northeast of Detroit. The incident happened early Thursday morning and as of Friday afternoon all fuel valves had been plugged. No injuries have been reported.
A 500-foot sheen is shining on the waters, though, and authorities have closed beaches in the area and warned area residents to remain indoors to avoid diesel fumes. The Coast Guard told the AP, "The impact to the shoreline has been minimal ... but there has been no report of a thick product wash ashore." Authorities have set up containment booms and created a 100-yard safety zone around the spill. The Coast Guard also claims there is no sign of wildlife being injured either.
The 110-foot dredge, Arthur J, had as much as 1,500 gallons of diesel in its tank when it sank. First responders quickly plugged four fuel vents, but six remained open for hours.
On the other side of the lake, the mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, is not happy with his American neighbors and claims they were too slow to inform him of the spill. He says it took Americans four hours to notify the Canadian authorities
"There's a bigger issue here too," said Mayor Mike Bradley. "It was just two years ago this summer that the Great Lakes mayors expressed great concern that there was not a spill action plan in place for the Great Lakes if something happened, and we asked both national governments to take action on that."