On patrol: River traffic, southbound from Port of Albany
July 12, 2015
Riverkeeper Team
A BIG bulk carrier southbound today from the Port of Albany, light. The snag is about to have a bad day.
Tug “Dean Reinauer” and barge passing Catskill Creek and Ramshorn Marsh southbound presumably loaded with Bakken crude oil (4 million gallons or so).
The crew of this vessel is extremely professional but mistakes happen, collisions occur, equipment fails at a critical moment. We have asked New York State and the U.S. Coast Guard to pre-stage oil spill response equipment at critically sensitive locations like this one AND to train/drill local first responders to deploy containment boom, etc., in the event of a vessel or train spill.
Last year we were told it couldn’t be done. This year there is some money in the state budget for just that, and both New York State and the Coast Guard have started planning. Good news. But we need to get on with it. The oil is moving now – a barge every day or so – and two 3-million-gallon trains a day.
Ramshorn Marsh and Catskill Creek, and all the rest of River’s sensitive habitat, the River itself, remain essentially unprotected. That’s unacceptable.
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