Crime & Safety
Pollution Removal Begins For Capsized 'Spirit Of Sacramento'
The paddle-wheel riverboat near Bethel Island may contain 600 gallons of fuel. [Breaking]
NORTH BAY, CA – Pollution removal operations for a capsized vessel near Bethel Island began Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said.
The Coast Guard is cooperating with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the Army Corps of Engineers and other partner agencies, spokesman Adam Stanton said.
A crane mounted on a floating barge arrived at around 3 p.m. and began to right and dewater the 85-foot Spirit of Sacramento, which capsized at around 12:30 a.m. Sept. 4 near the southern tip of Webb Tract, just across from Bethel Island.
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Once the 99-gross ton Spirit of Sacramento is dewatered, it will be towed to the Army Corps of Engineers facility in Sausalito, Stanton said.
There, oil and fuel will be removed from the vessel.
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Coast Guard officials believe the boat contains about 600 gallons of fuel, so crews placed 3,000 feet of oil containment boom in the water around the vessel so that oil or fuel can be retrieved by crews standing by
with skimming equipment, Stanton said.
Boom was also placed to protect wildlife and other sensitive areas.
The waterway surrounding the vessel was closed Wednesday morning and is scheduled to reopen once the pollution is removed.
Pollution removal operations are estimated to last 24 hours, Stanton said.
The boat, built to resemble an old-fashioned paddle-wheel riverboat, used to be a commercial passenger vessel, but was most recently used as a private recreational boat.
The boat's owner, Samuel Rowles, was given a federal order to produce a fuel removal plan, but has yet to do so, according to the Coast Guard.
--Bay City News/Photos:Coast Guard members discuss salvage operations as Global Diving and Salvage personnel roll and prepare to lift the Spirit of Sacramento out of the water Sept. 28, 2016, near Bethel Island, Calif. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam Stanton; September 2016 image via Yelp courtesy of Laura U.
