The US Coast Guard and partner agencies are responding to a diesel fuel spill that happened approximately 7 miles northwest of Key West, on Tuesday, October 2.
Watchstanders at US Coast Guard Sector Key West received a report of the fishing vessel, San Diego running aground on the Northwest Channel Jetty. Watchstanders launched a USCG Station Key West 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew who arrived on scene, embarked the four people that were aboard the vessel and determined the hull was breached causing pollution in the area.
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A pollution response team from US Coast Guard Sector Key West is on scene to mitigate the situation. TowBoat US has been contracted to clean up the spill.
A federal coordinator and marine inspectors Sector Key West are evaluating the condition of the fishing vessel.
According to Lt. Quentin Long, Incident Management Division Chief of Sector Key West, the primary concern is the safety of the boating public, pollution responders, and contractors; all while protecting the environment.
We are working under our Area Contingency Plan and coordinating efforts with federal, state, and trustee resources to assess and contain the discharge of oil as well as minimize the impact on environmentally sensitive ecosystems that we have here in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.
