Port Mahon News

The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it was, together with local fire agencies, responding to a barge fire approximately 9 miles south of Port Mahon.Watchstanders at the Sector Delaware Bay Command Center received a call at approximately 1 a.m. reporting a barge on fire in the Delaware River. The barge was reportedly carrying household appliances for scrap, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew to assist and continue to monitor the situation. "There are six fireboats on scene from local fire agencies actively fighting the fire," the U.S.

The Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) are continuing to lead the recovery and clean-up of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay Tuesday. Shorelines impacted in Delaware by the spill include Port Mahon, Kelly Island and Pickering Beach. These areas have been reported to have light amounts of tar balls ranging from dime to baseball size. There is also a report of a scattered concentration of tar balls four-miles off of Bowers Beach, which oil skimming vessels are in the process of recovering. As a preventive measure, the NJDEP has closed 70,000 acres of New Jersey's oyster beds to prevent potential environmental contamination.

The Coast Guard, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control are working together to clean up an oil spill. The crewman onboard the tug Liberty notified the Coast Guard that oil was floating in the upper Delaware Bay. Marine science technicians from Sector Delaware Bay and a helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City were deployed to survey the scene and begin initial assessments. The sheen is a narrow band of oil five to six miles long, near the center of the bay in the main shipping channel, east of Port Mahon in Kent County, DE. The clean-up efforts of the spill began after the determination to use federal funds was made. Funds from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) will be used.

The Coast Guard, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) continue to lead the recovery and clean-up of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay. As a preventive measure, the NJDEP has closed 70,000 acres of New Jersey's oyster beds to prevent potential environmental contamination. The Captain of the Port of Philadelphia has also issued a safety broadcast to mariners informing them of the obstructions to navigation due to the deployment of protective booming. Under direction of the Captain of the Port, protective booming which will limit or prohibit access to waterways has been placed in Back Creek, Nantuxet Creek, Fortescue Creek and Dividing Creek on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay.

The Unified Command continues to oversee the recovery and clean-up operations of oil spilled in the upper Delaware Bay last Tuesday. Over the weekend, shoreline crews and assessment teams worked to clean up Delaware shorelines affected in Port Mahon, Pickering Beach and Kelly Island as well as Gandy's Beach in New Jersey. State and local officials also worked to identify additional areas impacted by the spill. Shoreline assessment crews today are focusing on areas from Kitts Hummock, DE south to Beach Plumb Island looking for any oil that may have come ashore. Clean-up crews are actively working along the Delaware shoreline at Slaughter Beach, Kitts Hummock and Big Stone. Reports of birds, one Sanderling and four Gulls, were reported to be affected by the spill over the weekend.

The owners/managers of the Bermuda Islander, a Netherlands registered 340-foot container vessel, have activated The O’Brien’s Group, a spill management consultant, and agreed to take over the coordination of, and accept costs relating to recovery and clean-up operations of an oil spill in the upper Delaware Bay that happened Tuesday. The owners/managers, JR Ship Management, have been cooperating with the Unified Command since Thursday afternoon. Clean up costs had initially been funded by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The Bermuda Islander was determined to be one of the vessels of interest based on information received as part of an ongoing investigation into the source of the spill.