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Gasoline barge explodes
The Liberian Government will be holding an enquiry into the sinking and may give the reasons for the Genimar steaming northwards in the south-bound lane of the IMCO recommended one-way system for the Straits of Dover. There is still a threat of oil pollution, since the wreck contains oil in its bunkers and careful control will be necessary if the wreck is destroyed. T. J. DIXON
Gasoline Barge Explodes At 0602 h on Wednesday, October 25 the Ocean 80, a barge owned by the Interstate Oil Transportation Company of Philadelphia, blew up at GATX Pier, Carteret, N J, USA. A board of enquiry convened to ascertain the cause of and responsibility for the explosion. The barge had gasoline and diesel fuel on it. The explosion thus resulted in a tremendous fire over the Arthur Kill area. The pollution in that area was mainly caused by spillage from the broken and damaged pipes leading to the dock area where the barge was boarded at the time of the explosion. The pier itself, as a result of the fire, no longer exists. No estimate of the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel involved is available yet. The GATX Corporation had small containment barriers around the scene before the explosion (part of their permanent fixtures) so that the fuel that did not burn was held by these booms. A very thin slick did, however, drift off from the burning area. Most of the spill was gasoline from the barge that had not yet burned. This dissipated in a very short time with tidal action and with the boats going back and forth. Coastal Services was involved in the clean-up activities. They had a small skimmer out and a vacuum truck. The Coast Guard boat strung a boom across the area where the burned out pier had been to prevent anything from coming out of the piping areas. The rest of the gasoline was out in the channel and was either burning up or dissipating by itself. Some gasoline is still left on the barge which has drifted out into the middle of the channel. The Coast Guard is watching to make sure that there is not another explosion and to prevent further pollution.
Oyster Creek Fish Kill On January 30, 1972, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) field office in Edison, New Jersey, was notified of a fish kill at Oyster Creek, N J, approximately 96 km south of New York City. The Jersey Central Power and Light Company's Nuclear Power Plant at Oyster Creek was suspected to be the cause of the kill. They reportedly shut down their nuclear reactor on Thursday, January 27 and dead fish were reported the next day. On January 30, Ernest G. Karvelis, chief of EPA's surveillance section in Edison, inspected the site. His conclusion was 'all evidence to date indicates that thermal shock caused the fish kill'. The vast majority of the dead fish were menhaden, commonly known as 'mossbunkers'. Menhaden normally migrate to warm waters off North Carolina during the winter. However, the heated waters discharged from the cooling system of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant appear to have created 'favourable temperatures' and
the fish--unaware of the changing season-did not migrate. When the plant shut down on January 27, water temperatures in the creek returned to their normal winter low, and the menhaden died of thermal shock. Supporting the 'thermal shock' theory is the fact that only warm water species, m e n h a d e n - - a n d a few anchovies--were involved in the kill; native cold water species appear to have survived. The fish showed no apparent cause of death, internal or external damage, that might have been caused by toxic materials in the water. EPA's and Edison's field office has monitored water temperature near the Oyster Creek plant ever since it was under construction. The closest temperature recorder to the plant's point of discharge is about 400 m downstream. The recorder showed drastic temperature drops, according to Albert Bromberg, who is in charge of field investigation at the Edison facility. There were drops for 12 h on January 14, for 10 h on January 20, 16 h on January 21, 6 to 10 h on January 24, and on January 27 the temperature dropped from 15 ° to 2.8°C and stayed down. EPA regional administrator Gerald M. Hansler said 'this fish kill points out the need for much more research into inverse thermal effects, and I shall recommend such projects to the EPA headquarters in Washington'. EPA will also have to take 'a harder look at thermal pollution' when it evaluates environmental impact statements for future projects, he said. For two years the Oyster Creek nuclear plant has been drawing 1,750,000 gallons a minute from Barnegat Bay, using it to cool the generating plant's steam and then dumping it, 8-11 °C warmer, into Oyster Creek, a tributary of the bay. In recent years, scientists have been trying to solve the thermal pollution problem by using heat for something useful, such as wintertime agriculture, or the raising of tropical fish in northern waters. However, they have not yet solved the problem of what to do if a nuclear plant has to shut down. An entire crop might be lost then for lack of heat.
Heads above Water One group, apart from environmentalists, who have been delighted at any progress towards cleaning up coastal waters are manufacturers of waste treatment plant; they have enjoyed a boom for several years and look for more to come. The enticing market for waste treatment systems on recreational boats in US waters moved nearer with the recent publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's long-awaited standards of performance for marine sanitation devices. According to a market study carried out by a New York market research firm, the no-discharge philosophy inherent in these standards indicates that the market for holding tanks, recirculating toilets, incinerators and other devices for pleasure craft will amount to $232 million over the next five years. This is only a fraction of the boom expected by this sector of industry and the estimated expenditure between 1972 and 1977 on shipboard waste treatment facifities for commercial fleets, fishing vessels, tugs, towboats, etc., as well as pleasure craft, is expected to approach $500 million. 181
Gasoline Barge Explodes At 0602 h on Wednesday, October 25 the Ocean 80, a barge owned by the Interstate Oil Transportation Company of Philadelphia, blew up at GATX Pier, Carteret, N J, USA. A board of enquiry convened to ascertain the cause of and responsibility for the explosion. The barge had gasoline and diesel fuel on it. The explosion thus resulted in a tremendous fire over the Arthur Kill area. The pollution in that area was mainly caused by spillage from the broken and damaged pipes leading to the dock area where the barge was boarded at the time of the explosion. The pier itself, as a result of the fire, no longer exists. No estimate of the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel involved is available yet. The GATX Corporation had small containment barriers around the scene before the explosion (part of their permanent fixtures) so that the fuel that did not burn was held by these booms. A very thin slick did, however, drift off from the burning area. Most of the spill was gasoline from the barge that had not yet burned. This dissipated in a very short time with tidal action and with the boats going back and forth. Coastal Services was involved in the clean-up activities. They had a small skimmer out and a vacuum truck. The Coast Guard boat strung a boom across the area where the burned out pier had been to prevent anything from coming out of the piping areas. The rest of the gasoline was out in the channel and was either burning up or dissipating by itself. Some gasoline is still left on the barge which has drifted out into the middle of the channel. The Coast Guard is watching to make sure that there is not another explosion and to prevent further pollution.
Oyster Creek Fish Kill On January 30, 1972, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) field office in Edison, New Jersey, was notified of a fish kill at Oyster Creek, N J, approximately 96 km south of New York City. The Jersey Central Power and Light Company's Nuclear Power Plant at Oyster Creek was suspected to be the cause of the kill. They reportedly shut down their nuclear reactor on Thursday, January 27 and dead fish were reported the next day. On January 30, Ernest G. Karvelis, chief of EPA's surveillance section in Edison, inspected the site. His conclusion was 'all evidence to date indicates that thermal shock caused the fish kill'. The vast majority of the dead fish were menhaden, commonly known as 'mossbunkers'. Menhaden normally migrate to warm waters off North Carolina during the winter. However, the heated waters discharged from the cooling system of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant appear to have created 'favourable temperatures' and
the fish--unaware of the changing season-did not migrate. When the plant shut down on January 27, water temperatures in the creek returned to their normal winter low, and the menhaden died of thermal shock. Supporting the 'thermal shock' theory is the fact that only warm water species, m e n h a d e n - - a n d a few anchovies--were involved in the kill; native cold water species appear to have survived. The fish showed no apparent cause of death, internal or external damage, that might have been caused by toxic materials in the water. EPA's and Edison's field office has monitored water temperature near the Oyster Creek plant ever since it was under construction. The closest temperature recorder to the plant's point of discharge is about 400 m downstream. The recorder showed drastic temperature drops, according to Albert Bromberg, who is in charge of field investigation at the Edison facility. There were drops for 12 h on January 14, for 10 h on January 20, 16 h on January 21, 6 to 10 h on January 24, and on January 27 the temperature dropped from 15 ° to 2.8°C and stayed down. EPA regional administrator Gerald M. Hansler said 'this fish kill points out the need for much more research into inverse thermal effects, and I shall recommend such projects to the EPA headquarters in Washington'. EPA will also have to take 'a harder look at thermal pollution' when it evaluates environmental impact statements for future projects, he said. For two years the Oyster Creek nuclear plant has been drawing 1,750,000 gallons a minute from Barnegat Bay, using it to cool the generating plant's steam and then dumping it, 8-11 °C warmer, into Oyster Creek, a tributary of the bay. In recent years, scientists have been trying to solve the thermal pollution problem by using heat for something useful, such as wintertime agriculture, or the raising of tropical fish in northern waters. However, they have not yet solved the problem of what to do if a nuclear plant has to shut down. An entire crop might be lost then for lack of heat.
Heads above Water One group, apart from environmentalists, who have been delighted at any progress towards cleaning up coastal waters are manufacturers of waste treatment plant; they have enjoyed a boom for several years and look for more to come. The enticing market for waste treatment systems on recreational boats in US waters moved nearer with the recent publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's long-awaited standards of performance for marine sanitation devices. According to a market study carried out by a New York market research firm, the no-discharge philosophy inherent in these standards indicates that the market for holding tanks, recirculating toilets, incinerators and other devices for pleasure craft will amount to $232 million over the next five years. This is only a fraction of the boom expected by this sector of industry and the estimated expenditure between 1972 and 1977 on shipboard waste treatment facifities for commercial fleets, fishing vessels, tugs, towboats, etc., as well as pleasure craft, is expected to approach $500 million. 181