The Office of Emergency Management said in a statement that
"vacuum gas oil from the barge has been visually confirmed in
the water" and that the barge's total capacity was 30,000
gallons. The amount that has leaked was unknown.
Calls to a number listed for Martin Petroleum Corp were not
returned.
The Office of Emergency Management said that about 6.5 miles of
the Intracoastal Waterway has been closed to water traffic.
TV images showed a portion of a railway that runs alongside the
bridge, located about 60 miles southeast of Houston, collapsed
atop the barge.
The City of Galveston said in a written statement that "the U.S.
Coast Guard is responding and will determine the extent of the
spill, as well as initiate the containment and cleanup
processes."
An investigation is underway, the statement said. Officials have
not yet said what may have caused the accident.
The Coast Guard did not respond to requests for details.
Engineers from the Texas Department of Transportation were en
route to examine the bridge, which will remain closed until it
is deemed safe, the city said.
The collision comes amid heightened concerns in the U.S. about
the vulnerability of bridges to large ships, after a cargo ship
collided with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March,
killing six people and leading to the collapse of the structure.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado, and Rahul
Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
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