Texas Coast Mystery Slick; Texas Coast

Texas Coast | 1998-May-02

Initial Notification: At 2330 on Saturday, May 2, 1998 the D8 SSC was contacted by MSU Galveston concerning the report of a slick off the Texas Coast. A ten mile long slick of "thick light brown oil" had been reported in position, lat: 27-40.0 N, long: 93-37.0 W or just south of the East Flower Garden Bank, National Marine Santuary. The report was that four slicks of thick light brown oil extended for a distance of ten miles north of the above position. The northern end of the slick was a "diesel like" sheen. The SSC consulted with Jerry Galt and Glen Watabayashi of NOAA HAZMAT in Seattle and provided the Coast Guard with a verbal trajectory. Seattle HAZMAT used the Texas General Land Office's (TGLO) TABS buoy system current information as well as current and forecasted weather information to evaluate the situation. It was determined that the slick would most likely move to the WNW of the reported position at approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of a knot. The reported position was as of 1730 on Saturday afternoon and due to logistical constraints the MSU was unable to schedule an overflight until Sunday afternoon. In this interim the slick could be expected to move 10 miles to the WNW. On Sunday afternoon the Coast Guard conducted an overflight and with the trajectory information provided, they were able to successfully locate the slick. The overflight revealed a 200 x 200 yard slick of light brown oil which was somewhat patchy. It is believed that either the initial report overestimated the amount of product or the majority had already evaporated. Due to the distance offshore (100 miles) and the small amount of product no further response was warranted. USCG district 8.