The 2010 Port Arthur oil spill was the result of a collision between two vessels in the Sabine-Neches Waterway at Port Arthur, Texas

Port Arthur, Texas

-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...

 on January 23, 2010. The two vessels were the oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

 Eagle Otome and a barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

 being pushed by the towboat Dixie Vengeance.

Collision

The barge collided with the tanker at about 09:30 local time on January 23, 2010, in the Sabine-Neches Waterway as the tanker, chartered by Exxon-Mobil from AET Incorporated to move oil to Exxon's refinery in Beaumont

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

, Texas, moved upstream, and the barge was being maneuvered out of the harbor. The collision tore a 15 × 8 feet (2.4 m) hole in the side of the tanker, through which as much as 450000 gallons (1,703,435.4 l), or 1,500 tonnes, of crude oil, escaped. According to statements from the tanker's crew, the tank that was damaged contained 80000 barrels (12,719 m³) of oil, of which 69,000 had been transferred to another tank, leaving 11000 barrels (1,748.9 m³), or 450000 gallons (1,703,435.4 l) unaccounted for. According to local officials, however, there did not appear to be that much oil in the water, and some said that as little as a thousand barrels, or 42000 gallons (158,987.3 l), of oil had spilled. Coast Guard officials acknowledged that this might be the case, and that oil could have remained in the damaged tank. Referring to the size of the spill, a Coast Guard officer said, "This is a big one." In response to the spill, emergency crews evacuated about 28 blocks of buildings around the site of the collision, but by the evening of the 23rd, residents had been allowed to return.

Aftermath

A perimeter was established around the affected area, and none of the oil had harmed local wildlife. The collision occurred in a still part of the channel, which helped to limit the flow of oil both upstream or downstream. AET activated their OPA 90 response plan and called upon Resolve Marine to lighter and refloat the damaged vessel while contractors worked to contain the oil spilled. While the section of the waterway the collision occurred in is largely industrial, there are marshes along shorelines in other parts that are susceptible to damage from oil spills. The collision closed the Port Arthur waterway, and Coast Guard personnel couldn't immediately comment on how long it would take to clean the spill or reopen the channel. The only statement made regarding the time it would take to reopen the waterway was that "We're working as quickly as possible to clean up the spill," according to a Coast Guard officer. By the day after the incident, about 1100 barrels (174.9 m³) of spilled oil had been recovered, and most of the unrecovered oil was contained. However, according to both the Coast Guard and local officials, the possibility of currents in the channel picking up remained, and with it the potential for oil to flow downstream into marshes. Four oil refineries

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

 operate in the Port Arthur area, with a total capacity of about 1.1 Moilbbl of oil a day. In statements, neither Exxon or Valero, which operate two of the refineries, said they expected operations to be disrupted by the collision. Neither Motiva or Total

Total S.A.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...

, which operate the other two refineries, initially publicly responded to the spill. In its response to the incident, the tanker's operator, AET Inc. said it was cooperating with investigators, and was prepared to bear the costs of cleanup, but noted that responsibility for the incident had not been determined. The company also refused to name the pilots in charge of the ship at the time of the collision. On January 27, the tanker was removed from the waterway, and soon after, limited traffic through the channel was allowed to resume. In a statement on January 29th, the Coast Guard said they hoped to allow full operations in the waterway to resume within a week

Effect on industry

The collision entirely closed the waterway for four days, with limited ship traffic allowed to resume January 27th, with operations planned to return to normal by February 5th. A total of 26 oil tankers were affected by the collision, with eight vessels waiting at the mouth of the channel by the time it was partially reopened. An officer from the Coast Guard said that their intent was to allow the largest tankers through the channel first. In response to the incident, the oil refinery operated by Motiva reduced production by 110000 barrels (17,488.6 m³) per day, although whether other refineries reduced production was not clear, as further statements were not released from the operators of the refineries.