UPDATE 3: Coast Guard, partners respond to spill in Straits of Mackinac

united states coast guard 

News Release  

April 5, 2018
Contact: Lt. j.g. Sean Murphy
Phone: (906) 635-3223
Email: PointLeBarbeResponseJIC@gmail.com
9th District online newsroom

UPDATE 3: Coast Guard, partners respond to spill in Straits of Mackinac

Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon McCarty, a marine science technician assigned to Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., conducts a waterside investigation of a mineral oil spill while Matt Kleitch, an environmental quality analyst for the state of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality, looks for possible impacted wildlife on the Straits of Mackinac, Thursday, April 5, 2018. The Coast Guard has been overseeing response efforts from the mineral oil spill that leaked from utility lines on Monday, April 3, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Pamela Manns).

Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon McCarty (center), a marine science technician assigned to Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., speaks with Matt Kleitch (left), an environmental quality analyst for the state of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality, and Glenn Frazier from the American Transmission Company regarding a mineral oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac, Thursday, April 5, 2018. The mineral oil spill occurred on Monday, April 3, 2018; Coast Guard pollution responders have not located signs of oil on the surface of the water. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Pamela Manns).

Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon McCarty, a marine science technician assigned to Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and Matt Kleitch, an environmental quality analyst for the state of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality, survey the Straits of Mackinac, Thursday, April 5, 2018. The skim ice pictured on the water can look like pollution from a distance; however, the Coast Guard was unable to identify any signs of an oil sheen following a mineral oil spill from underwater utility lines that occurred on Monday, April 3, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Pamela Manns).

 Editors' Note: Click on images to download high resolution version of the video and stills. 

MACKINAW CITY, Mich. - A Coast Guard marine science technician and an environmental quality analyst for Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality surveyed the Straits of Mackinac onboard a vessel this afternoon. The responders did not identify any mineral oil sheens, signs of pollution, or adverse impacts to the environment or wildlife.

Members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are deploying to the scene to survey the area for any wildlife that may be affected by the mineral oil spill.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new calculation for the trajectory of the spill is to the east and northeast of the utility line, due to changing weather conditions. The entities responsible for the operation of the water intakes in the surrounding communities have been notified of the change in trajectory, however there is still low risk to drinking water and the environment due to the product’s low toxicity and dilution in the waterway. The mineral oil is not known to be leaking from the source at this time, and the estimated amount of oil spilled remains at 600 gallons.

In the mineral oil, there is a dielectric fluid that contains a benzene compound.

“The benzene molecule is known to cause cancer but these larger chemicals (benzene compounds in the dielectric fluid) have not been classified as causing cancer," said Edward Primeau, an industrial hygienist from the Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team. 

Crews continue to extract the oil from the affected two utility lines.

Previous press releases can be viewed here.

For more information contact the Point Le Barbe Response at the Joint Information Center via email at PointLeBarbeResponseJIC@gmail.com or District 9 Public Affairs at (216) 902-6020.

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