SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard Sector San Juan Incident Management and contracted oil spill cleanup organization, Clean Harbors LLC, completed the removal of diesel and oily products from the 42-foot pleasure boat Ajo del País at Pier 11 in Port San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday.
Cleanup crews refloated the partially sunken vessel to remove approximately 800 gallons of oily water residue that was drawn primarily from diesel and motor oil.
“We are pleased that everything has come together and that the appropriate resources have been brought into this response to remove this pollution threat from San Juan Harbor,” said Lt. Cmdr. Alberto Martínez, head of the Incident Management Division of the San Juan Sector. “We appreciate the excellent coordination between the oil spill response organization, local partner agencies and Coast Guard personnel overseeing the response. The Port of San Juan is a very active waterway and important to Puerto Rico, and we stand ready to respond and protect it from any threat of contamination.”
The fuel tank on Ajo del País’ vessel has a maximum capacity of 400 gallons, but the amount of fuel spilled from the vessel is still unknown. The cause of the ship’s sinking is also unknown.
Coast Guard watchmen in Sector San Juan received a phone and email communication from the National Response Center at 8:57 a.m. Monday reporting the situation. The watchdogs made inter-agency notifications and dispatched a pollution response team to the scene.
Due to the potential impact to the waterway, the Coast Guard activated the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and contracted Clean Harbors LLC as the oil spill cleanup organization. Cleanup crews initially installed a containment and absorbent barrier around the vessel before a team of divers and a vacuum truck were used to recover the oily water residue from the fuel tank and engine once that the ship was refloated.
Coast Guard pollution responders, coordinating with staff from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and Environment, did not detect any signs of affected wildlife.
“We appreciate the actions of the people at the marina and the fishing village of La Coal for their quick notification to the National Response Center,” said Petty Officer 1st Class James Peterson, marine science technician and representative of the federal coordinator at the ‘scene of the case. “This allowed our team to quickly reach the scene and initiate response actions. Anyone or entity identifying an oil discharge in the waterway should contact the National Response Center as could make a difference by having a successful response and employing rapid mitigation actions to better protect public health, the marine environment and property.
People wishing to report oil pollution in water can contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
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