Fuel spill fouls Puerto Rico coastline |
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Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:04
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GUANICA, Puerto Rico (AP) - Miles of rocky shoreline and mangrove thickets have been fouled by a fuel spill drifting along Puerto Rico's southwest coast, environmental officials said Friday.Specialists walked blackened shores as helicopters flew over the area to assess damage and track the slick, which also could threaten a pristine coral reef off the coast of La Parguera, a diving site popular with tourists.Authorities were still investigating the origin of the spill, which stretched along an estimated 8 miles of shoreline from the southwestern town of Guanica to Guayanilla Bay.'The impact area of this spill has been quite extensive,' said Javier Velez Arocho, secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, which has closed beaches in the area.Capt. James E. Tunstall, commander of U.S. Coast Guard operations in the eastern Caribbean, said five shoreline assessment teams were deployed to determine the nature and extent of the contamination.'Every effort will be made to conduct safe and effective recovery operations,' he said.So far, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service personnel had not received any reports of birds or fish being killed by the spill.Investigators were inspecting three ships anchored in Guayanilla Bay and questioning their owners to try to discover the origin of the fuel -- believed to be bunker oil, used to power older vessels.In a statement, the Coast Guard said the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, into which oil companies must pay to cover the costs of spills, has been tapped for containment and recovery operations in the U.S. Caribbean territory.Velez estimated that the cleanup would take several weeks.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Fuel spill spotted off Puerto Rico coast 