The following is text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(HONOLULU) — The Coast Guard is responding to an oil discharge near Pier 19 in Honolulu that occurred Thursday.
Watch standers at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu received a report from the master of the vessel Kamokuiki on Wednesday evening that heavy fuel oil discharged during bunkering operations with a barge.
The crew of the vessel immediately secured the discharge, activated their vessel response plan, and began cleanup operations.
Pacific Environmental Corp. and Marine Spill Response Corp. representatives deployed 25 bales of absorbent material stretching from the stern of the vessel to Pier 22. Two response vessels arrived on scene and deployed 1,600 feet of hard boom surrounding the 25 bales of absorbent material and spilled oil.
A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin crew completed an overflight Friday morning of the impacted area and confirmed some of the oil had leaked out of the contained area and was coming ashore near the Coast Guard Base Honolulu on Sand Island.
Cleanup of the impacted area is still ongoing. So far, two barrels (about 84 gallons) of oil has been recovered with sorbent material, and another 40 gallons have been cleaned up by skimmers currently deployed in the area.
There are no reports of impacted wildlife.
Involved in the response are U.S. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu; Hawaii Department of Health, Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response; Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC); OMI Environmental Solutions, and Pacific Environmental Organization (PENCO).
