Patches Nearby: Barge With Crane Sinks in Gig Harbor, Spilling Fuel

A barge with a 5-ton deck crane sank in the harbor Saturday morning, spilling an unknown amount of fuel into the water, the state Department of Ecology said.

The barge owned by Marine Floats of Tacoma went down sometime between 8 and 9 a.m. at 3421 Harborview Drive, said Curt Hart, a spokesman for the Ecology Department's Spills Program.

Marine Floats reported the incident to the department and deployed boom to contain the fuel from the crane, Hart said. The Gig Harbor fire department deployed an additional 200 feet of boom to keep the thin sheen from spreading.

The barge is underwater, but floating above the bottom, and divers have secured lines to it, Hart said.

“They’re trying to pump water off of it to try to get it to float, and then will try to bring it to shore,” he said. “That should happen over the next 12 hours, by about 2 a.m. tomorrow.”

The department wants to make sure nothing happens during the operation to make the barge roll, Hart said.

Treated timber that was on the barge and fuel from the crane have been successfully removed, Hart said.

It’s not known how much fuel leaked into the water or how much was at risk of spilling, something that the Ecology Department will investigate.

The spill left a thin sheen of oil on the water, which likely is too thin to recover, Hart said. It will break up, and some will likely mix with the water and some will evaporate. But damage to aquatic life starts as soon as something like that hits the water he said.

“That’ll be part of the assessment we’ll do, what was the environmental impact,” he said. “At this point it’s too early to tell.”

It’s not known what caused the barge to sink. A message left on Marine Float’s voicemail wasn’t immediately returned Saturday afternoon.

According to the Marine Floats website, the Tacoma company "designs, manufactures, constructs and maintains commercial and residential marinas, dock systems, covered moorage and other waterfront solutions."

ORIGINAL STORY:

Gig Harbor fire and police departments and the state Department of Ecology are responding to an oil spill in the harbor.

According to a statement from the Ecology Department, a barge owned by Marine Floats with a 5-ton deck crane sank in the harbor Saturday.

“The sunken barge has leaked an unknown amount of fuel, causing an oil sheen on the water. The fuel has been removed from the barge crane,” the department said. “The barge owner has deployed boom and absorbent materials to help contain the spill.”