14 DAY TRIAL // This past Saturday, one of New York City's waterways, the Kill Van Kull between Staten Island and New Jersey, witnessed significant amounts of oil being spilled into it.
For the time being, employees of the US Coast Guard are still unsure about how much fuel made its way into the water as a result of this spill.
What they do know is that the accident was caused by a leaking cargo tank owned by Boston Marine Transport. This cargo tank was transporting roughly 112,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil, but it seems that not all of it was spilled.
No official figures are yet made available to the public, but it is believed that tens of thousands of gallons of oil were spilled.
Sources say that the spill was first noticed around 11 p.m. local time on Friday by a group of workers who were busy transferring oil from one barge to another.
While going about their business, these workers noticed that oil was seeping in the water at Mays Ship Repair, and immediately alerted the US Coast Guard.
As well as this, Boston Marine Transport employees managed to secure the area to a certain extent with the help of a containment boom that was set in place around the two barges.
Given the fact that having oil spill into this waterway constitutes a potential threat to ecosystems nearby and even to public health, members of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection also arrived at the scene.
Their goal was to help contain the spill and do some damage control as far as environmental protection was concerned.
For the time being, the US Coast Guard wishes to reassure the general public that things are well under control and that most of this oil spill is recoverable.