150 gallons of diesel pumped off sunken vessel in Hoquaim River

Commercial fishing vessel Donna sank at its mooring late Tuesday

July 7, 2017 7:00 pm
Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read Personnel from Global Diving and Salvage, a Coast Guard-contracted salvage company, prepare to remove oil and oil products from the sunken fishing vessel Donna in the Hoquiam River July 5. Some 150 gallons of diesel were pumped from her fuel tanks.
Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read Personnel from Global Diving and Salvage, a Coast Guard-contracted salvage company, prepare to remove oil and oil products from the sunken fishing vessel Donna in the Hoquiam River July 5. Some 150 gallons of diesel were pumped from her fuel tanks.

The 48-foot commercial fishing vessel Donna sank at its mooring in the Hoquiam River late Tuesday, prompting U.S. Coast Guard and State Department of Ecology crews to respond to prevent the diesel fuel inside the vessel from spreading.

According to a release by the Coast Guard, an electronic, position-indicating radio beacon alert received in the Coast Guard 13th District Command Center in Seattle guided Coast Guard responders aboard a 47-foot motor life boat from Station Grays Harbor to the sunken vessel. A sheen of oil could be observed around the Donna.

After being unable to contact the owner of the vessel, the federal on-scene coordinator representative from Sector Columbia River opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund — a federal fund that is used in part to reimburse state, federal and other agencies for cleanup of such incidents — to contract Global Diving and Salvage for cleanup purposes. Global Diving and Salvage personnel placed a boom around the sunken vessel and pumped an estimated 150 gallons of diesel from its fuel tanks.

The government can seek reimbursement for the cost of the cleanup, according to the Coast Guard statement.