Barge SFI 61; Houma, Louisiana

Houma, Louisiana | 1989-Feb-14

Initial Notification: On February 6, 1989, the barge SFI 61 ran aground while being moved on the Intracoastal Waterway near Houma, Louisiana, spilling an estimated 500 barrels of a potential 6,000 barrels of number 6 fuel oil. Efforts to stop the fuel leak and contain the spill began shortly thereafter. Cool temperatures and rainy weather hampered containment and cleanup, and the oil began disappearing below the surface of the canal. Cleanup operations were discontinued a week later when approximately 150 barrels of the material had been recovered from a six-mile section of the waterway. However, during the next few days, daytime temperatures increased with clearing skies and the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office (MSO), Morgan City, was inundated with spill reports from up and down the Intracoastal Waterway near Houma. USCG district 8.