Oil spill clean-up continues in Delaware River
Pennsville Police posted this picture of a stick covered in oil on their Facebook page last week. (photo courtesy Pennsville PD)
Nearly a week after an oil spill at the Port of Wilmington, the cleanup effort is still underway.
The oil spill was first discovered last Tuesday after reports of a quarter-mile sheen of oil was spotted near Pennsville, NJ. The spill is believed to have come from a foreign freight ship that anchored at the Port of Wilmington Monday, March 9.
Initial reports showed that 400 to 500 gallons of oil spilled on the ship’s deck, with about 100 gallons entering the Delaware River.
Cleanup work is now underway by environmental contractors under the supervision of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. The cleanup effort includes 1,500 feet of shoreline in New Castle and extends into smaller sections of the river both north and south of Battery Bark in New Castle.
Work is expected to continue throughout the day including workers raking oil from the shoreline and removing oil-soaked debris that has washed ashore.
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