Coast Guard Cleans Spill from Cutter Mackinaw

The U.S. Coast Guard has contained all spilled diesel fuel from the Tuesday discharge that occurred while Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw was taking on fuel in the vicinity of the Ambassador Bridge in the Detroit River.

The deployed sorbent boom recovered all but a residual amount of diesel before the boom became frozen in the ice.

Coast Guard Sector Detroit and Marine Pollution Control contracted personnel are continuing to monitor the situation and plan to recover the boom, along with the residual fuel that remains in the ice, as soon as weather permits and it is safe to do so.

"As of right now, we are waiting on the weather to improve so we can remove the sorbent materials," said Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Hobson, a pollution responder with Sector Detroit. "We continue to closely monitor the site."

The cause of the discharge remains under investigation.

uscgnews.com