The Houston Ship Channel was closed on Friday after a collision between a barge and tank vessel that spilled an unknown amount of a gasoline ingredient, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, reported Bloomberg.
The collision involved the tanker Genesis River and a tug transporting two barges carrying more than 2 million gallons of reformate, an oil-refining byproduct used to make gasoline. One barge capsized and the other was damaged, the Coast Guard said in a statement on Friday.
“An unknown amount of product has been released from the damaged barge,” the Coast Guard said in the statement.
The Coast Guard established an emergency temporary safety zone and closure of the Clear Creek Channel from the entrance to Clear Lake extending east to Light 66 and north up to but not including the Bayport Ship Channel, it said in a statement. The area between Light 61 and Light 75 was also shut.
The spill was pinpointed by the National Weather Service as a possible source of the gasoline-like scent wafting across Houston’s eastern suburbs. Air monitors have been deployed to determine whether fumes have reached dangerous levels, the Coast Guard said.
The Houston Ship Channel is the city’s lifeline to Gulf of Mexico and to foreign markets. Oil shippers, refiners, chemical manufacturers and grain exporters rely on the waterway to receive and deliver everything from crude to corn.
