The Bolivar/Galveston, Texas, ferry re-opened at 2:50 p.m. after being closed for seven hours today. Sheening was seen on the water near the Bolivar ferry terminal after approximately 42,000 gallons of alkylate, a gasoline blend component, was spilled into the Houston Ship Channel near Galveston from a collision between two tugs and barges this morning. The Intracostal Waterway is open to one-way traffic. The alkylate, which dissipates very rapidly, came from the #2 and #3 tanks on the port side of the barge MMI 605 being pushed by the Rita M. The barge can carry as much as 1.25 million gallons of the product; approximately 225,311 gallons were in the two damaged tanks. "Little if any environmental impact has occurred at this time," said Richard Arnhart, Texas General Land Office.
