PORT ARTHUR — More than 1,000 barrels of oil have been spilled and the leak continued Saturday afternoon from a barge that caused a chain-reaction collision Saturday morning.
Neighborhoods of downtown Port Arthur have been evacuated and a shelter has been set up at the Port Arthur Recreation Center, 1308 Ninth Ave.
Officials are calling the odor a nuisance and not a health hazard. The evacuation was called because of the fumes, not health concerns.
Port Arthur Police Chief Blanton said a barge was being operated erratically Saturday morning and collided with a ship at the Port of Port Arthur. The second ship was pushed into a third ship.
The barge and the second ship are still tangled, the third ship is clear of the site. The Oil spill was from the barge, which was carrying 560,000 barrels of crude oil, Blanton said. Officials had earlier said more than 11,000 barrels of oil had spilled, but revised that estimate once more information was gathered.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Renee Aiello told The Associated Press that the crude spilled at the Port of Port Arthur when a 600-foot tanker carrying oil collided with a towing vessel pushing a loaded barge. The Coast Guard was notified of the collision around 9:50 a.m., she said.
The crash left a 15-by-8-foot hole in the tanker, Aiello said. The towing vessel then ricocheted and hit another tanker that was tied to a pier. Aiello didn't know what damage was caused to that ship.
Aiello said a portion of the oil in the damaged tank has been moved to another holding tank on the ship.
Port Arthur News reporter Mary Meaux reported a strong smell from the road block at Beaumont Avenue in downtown Port Arthur about 1:30 Saturday as officials were evacuating residents from areas near a ship collision at the Port of Port Arthur that has resulted in a leak.
The road block was several blocks from the site of the collision, but Meaux said she had been able to detect the odor several blocks earlier. A helicopter that appeared to belong to Jefferson County was in the air above the scene.
News Reporter Reesha Brown was on the scene at the Rec Center. She said most of the people there were foreign seafarers and did not want to comment. Brown said Mayor Deloris “Bobbie” Prince came to the site and said the evacuees looked hungry so she was going to see about getting them something to eat.
West Side residents, many from the Carver Terrace and Louis Manor complexes, are calling 409-983-8154 for help evacuating after two ships collided Saturday morning at the Port of Port Arthur.
Evacuees are being sent to the city's Recreation Center, 1308 Ninth Ave.
Brandon Underwood was manning the phone at the rec center Saturday afternoon. He said a number of calls for help had been received. He was in the back part of the building and was not able to estimate the size of the crowd there but said people were arriving.
A section of the Westside of the city is begin evacuated after two ships collided at the Port of Port Arthur.
The area being evacuated is from the ship channel to Seventh Street, and Houston to Waco streets. Pleasure Island is also affected.
