Coast Guard: EPA vessel leaked fuel in river (xpost from Veterans)

[unhappycamper]

Coast Guard: EPA vessel leaked fuel in river
By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 6:42:05 EDT

NORFOLK, Va. — A research vessel recently transferred from the nation’s ocean watchdog to its environmental watchdog emptied a 1,400-gallon diesel fuel tank into the Elizabeth River on Monday morning, according to the Coast Guard.

Though it’s not yet known how the leak started, it was discovered about 6:15 a.m.

“The crew secured it as soon as they found it had leaked,” according to Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class Andrew Kendrick at 5th District headquarters in Portsmouth.

The vessel, the 90-foot Lake Explorer II, recently was transferred from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency. It was called the Rude — pronounced “roo-dee” — as a NOAA vessel.

According to the Coast Guard, the research vessel was moored at the NOAA Marine Operations Base in Norfolk and the sheen of fuel spread to the moored battleship Wisconsin and across the river to Scotts Creek, a distance of two miles.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/09/coastguard_epaleak_092208w/%2e