Crews Clean Up, Investigate Staten Island Oil Spill
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An oil spill in Staten Island overnight sent crews scrambling to clean up the mess and investigate what caused the incident.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, crews on Saturday afternoon were setting up floating bombs near the bird sanctuary on Shooters Island, just west of the Bayonne Bridge, to try to contain the spill.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson said it all happened when Boston Marine Transport was transferring oil between the two barges at Mays Ship Repair late Friday.
"The maximum capacity of the tank that was spilling is 147,000 gallons," Swanson said. "We are responding as if that much spilled, but right now we are unsure of how much has spilled."
Swanson said air crews spotted the oil sheen as far away as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Environmental cleanup crews were on the scene Saturday afternoon, as the Coast Guard investigated what went wrong.
WCBS 880's Jim Smith Reports
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