Company Says Less Than Gallon of Fuel Leaked When Barge Sank With Crane

Marine Floats owner Wendell Stroud said less than a gallon of fuel leaked into the harbor when a barge with a crane on it sank Saturday morning.



Around 7 a.m., state ecology and local police and fire crews responded to the sinking barge that was carrying a 5-ton deck crane in the 3400 block of Harborview Drive.

A spokesman for the Ecology Department's Spills Program, Curt Hart, said the fuel spilled mostly from the crane, which was carrying less than 25 gallons of fuel at the time of the incident.

Stroud said before the crane went underwater, workers were able to pump out the fuel from machine.

Hart credited Marine Floats for its prompt response, which allowed crews to successfully pump the water off the barge and keep the thin oil sheen from spreading.

"We made sure that the barge didn't tip while that was going on because at one point it was starting to come to the bottom and not quite all the way to the surface. So we were concerned that the crane may make it tip and roll," Hart said.

After the company contacted the state Ecology Department, Marine Floats immediately deployed its oil containment boom to encircle the fuel on the water, according to Hart.

Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One and Gig Harbor Police also responded with 200 feet of boom.

In addition to fuel, Hart said some treated timber also fell into the water. However, they were able to retrieve the timber, which could have posed an environmental and operational hazard.

It's still not known what caused the barge to sink. In the meantime, the barge has been returned to Marine Floats' yard in Tacoma, and Stroud is working to save his crane after it was exposed to corrosive salt water.

"We've been concentrating on getting the crane because time is of the essence on the crane."