{"id":5521,"date":"2014-03-26T16:17:47","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T16:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/?p=5521"},"modified":"2014-03-26T16:21:44","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T16:21:44","slug":"5521","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/03\/26\/5521\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf Seafood Institute: Galveston Re-opens to Vessel Traffic, Oil Still Being Cleaned Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"mEyh7K85gm\"><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gulfseafoodnews.com\/2014\/03\/26\/galveston-re-opens-vessel-traffic-oil-still-cleaned\/\">Galveston Re-opens to Vessel Traffic, Oil Still Being Cleaned Up<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Galveston Re-opens to Vessel Traffic, Oil Still Being Cleaned Up&#8221; &#8212; Gulf Seafood News\" src=\"https:\/\/gulfseafoodnews.com\/2014\/03\/26\/galveston-re-opens-vessel-traffic-oil-still-cleaned\/embed\/#?secret=96CcScPea3#?secret=mEyh7K85gm\" data-secret=\"mEyh7K85gm\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nby News Editor\t\/ Newsroom Ink March 26, 2014<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/03\/26\/5521\/1-4\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5522\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/12-150x100.jpg\" alt=\"#1\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/12-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/12-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/12.jpg 630w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nA Coast Guard response boat patrols the Kirby Barge 27706 during cleanup efforts near the Texas City Dike. The oil spill occurred after a collision between a bulk carrier and the barge.  Photo: U.S. Coast Guard<\/p>\n<p>by Ed Lallo\/Gulf Seafood News Editor<\/p>\n<p>Fishing operations have been greatly reduced in Galveston Bay over the past few days due to channel restrictions as works continues to contain a spill that occurred when a barge carrying almost 1 million gallons of heavy oil collided with a ship near Houston.<\/p>\n<p>Galveston Bay, and the Houston ship channel, is home to the largest U.S. petrochemical port in to the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/03\/26\/5521\/buddy\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5523\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Buddy-150x93.jpg\" alt=\"Buddy\" width=\"150\" height=\"93\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Buddy-150x93.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Buddy-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Buddy.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\u201cThis is just a stupid mistake that could have been avoided,\u201d said Galveston fisherman Buddy Guindon, owner of Katie\u2019s Seafood House, which sells fresh Gulf seafood. \u201cWe have oil everywhere; on the docks, the boats, it\u2019s just a big mess.\u201d Photo: Ed Lallo\/Newsroom Ink<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is just a stupid mistake that could have been avoided,\u201d said Galveston fisherman Buddy Guindon, owner of Katie\u2019s Seafood House, which sells fresh Gulf seafood. \u201cWe have oil everywhere; on the docks, the boats, it\u2019s just a big mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The leaking barge was carrying approximately 168,000 gallons of bunker oil \u2014 a tarry, heavy fuel used in Marine vessels. It has spilled an unknown amount into the Houston Shipping Channel since the collision last Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe remaining oil has been transferred off of the damaged barge and it has been removed from the channel,\u201d said Greg Beuerman, a spokesman for the Unified Command Joint Information Center, and a Gulf Seafood Institute board member. \u201cMore than 70 vessels are on the water assisting in the clean up, and approximately 70,000 feet of boom has been deployed in sensitive areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the clean up efforts there have been no use of dispersants like the controversial corexit used during the Deepwater Horizon cleanup efforts in the Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe channel has been almost completely shut down until today,\u201d explained Guindon, who bought his last fresh shrimp on Saturday. \u201c Nobody has been able to move within the port. Shrimpers and other fisherman have been forced to sit idle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/03\/26\/5521\/beauerman\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5527\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beauerman-99x150.jpg\" alt=\"Beauerman\" width=\"99\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beauerman-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beauerman-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beauerman.jpg 333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 99px) 100vw, 99px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe remaining oil has been transferred off of the damaged barge and it has been removed from the channel,\u201d said Greg Beuerman, a spokesman for the Unified Command Joint Information Center, and a Gulf Seafood Institute board member. Photo: BFM<\/p>\n<p>The Houston ship channel reopened to limited daytime traffic on a priority basis as of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, with limited access to the spill area from Channel Buoy 40 to Channel Buoy 3.<\/p>\n<p>The spill forced Guindon to divert one of his fishing boats, \u201cWe had to send one of our boats to Freeport. It was scheduled to unload more than 26,000 pounds of snapper and grouper here in Galveston, but that just didn\u2019t happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The spill has also affected the bay oyster harvest.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to its customers, Sysco Louisiana Seafood\u2019s Johnny Elgin, director of quality assurance, said the company has not received any affected lots related to the closure. In order to minimize disruption, the company has made arrangements to secure product from alternative approved sources.<\/p>\n<p>According to Beauerman, as of late Tuesday all vessel traffic and channels and Ports have been reopened, although mariners are urged to proceed with caution. Private vessel cleaning stations will also be made available. \u201cBoat owners can call 832-244-1870 to schedule decontamination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>After the oil is removed he is not sure how long it will take for him to get back into business. \u201cI haven\u2019t even taken an extensive look at how much oil there is around our dock, or how hard it will be to clean up,\u201d he said. \u201cI just know that it is a mess, and I am not looking forward to the task ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Special thanks to Ed Lallo\/Gulf Seafood News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Galveston Re-opens to Vessel Traffic, Oil Still Being Cleaned Up by News Editor \/ Newsroom Ink March 26, 2014 A Coast Guard response boat patrols the Kirby Barge 27706 during cleanup efforts near the Texas City Dike. The oil spill occurred after a collision between a bulk carrier and the barge. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/03\/26\/5521\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Gulf Seafood Institute: Galveston Re-opens to Vessel Traffic, Oil Still Being Cleaned Up<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12,7,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gulf-of-mexico-clean-up","category-marine-pollution","category-oil-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5521"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5521\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}