MEDIA ADVISORY
WASHINGTON, DC
A U. S. Coast Guard pollution response crew sent to the Galapagos Islands pumped between 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of oil out of two tanks aboard the grounded tanker Jessica and into a barge today, but were forced to stop after conditions became too hazardous. "It's hard to describe just how difficult this operation is," said Commander Ed Stanton, the senior member of the Coast Guard team. "Waves were breaking over parts of the ship as the crews worked and by the time we stopped the ship's starboard list had increased from 40 to 60 degrees. The tanker is badly damaged and remains very unstable," he said.
Stanton said his crew cannot resume pumping until the ship is stabilized. Ecuadorian authorities are considering possible steps that might be taken to salvage or improve the stability of the vessel. While aboard the ship today the Coast Guard crew was able to inspect other tanks and now believes the amount of oil remaining aboard the ship may be considerably less than the 120,000 gallons previously reported, but the exact amount is not known.
Meanwhile, Charlie Henry, the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientific support coordinator (SSC) who is part of the U. S. team, has been assisting Ecuadorian environmental officials as they plan how to control, recover, and cleanup oil that has already already in the water. NOAA SSC's have a wide variety of technical expertise such as evaluating risks to wildlife, forecasting the drift and impacts of spilled oil, and developing beach survey procedures.
More information
NEWS MEDIA: For background information on the Coast Guard National Strike Force contact: Gene Maestas (252) 331-6000 x3028 gmaestas@nsfcc.uscg.mil, or see the NSF web site http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfcc/nsfweb
For background information on NOAA's role in oil spill response contact
Connie Barclay, 301-713-3070, Ext. 178