The Unified Command at Port Reading, New Jersey, continues to respond to and clean up a diesel fuel oil spill that occurred Thursday night at the Buckeye Terminal. All fuel transfers at the facility were suspended last week as a result from the incident.
- Multiple Oil Spill Removal Organizations have been contracted to clean up the oil, which includes placing boom around the affected facilities and sensitive areas, as well as deploying skimming vessels to recover product in the water.
- Shoreline cleanup assessment teams are in place assessing the impact to the local area.
- As of Sunday afternoon, an estimated 50,000 gallons of oily product has been recovered during clean-up operations.
According to data provided by the US Coast Guard, the Marine Transportation System in the Port of New York and New Jersey was affected as the spill contaminated areas of the Arthur Kill waterway, creating a domino effect leading to multiple vessels being diverted and two facilities impacted.
The Unified Command are working quickly to re-establish the energy supply chain. One of the docks at Buckeye is now able to resume petroleum operations. Numerous vessels, as well a second fuel facility on the Arthur Kill, have been decontaminated and have also resumed operations.
Although the Arthur Kill Waterway is not closed, Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) measures are in place, and any vessel that transits the waterway in the area is to go through with no wake.
The Unified Command continues to monitor recovery efforts to ensure safety of personnel, the protection of the environment, and the resiliency of our Marine Transportation System, especially in light of the impending storm in the next couple of days.
The cause of the spill is under investigation.
