Up to 400 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed into Bodega Harbor late Wednesday night after deckhands on a docked fishing vessel left a pump unattended while transferring fuel from one tank to another, officials said Thursday.
It was unclear why the workers were absent when the fuel began spilling over the deck of the 65-foot Barbara Marie and into the waters at the Spud Point Marina, said Sonoma County Regional Parks Park Manager David Robinson.
But the result was a sheen that drew Bodega Bay Fire and local U.S. Coast Guard crews to the county-operated marina shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday so they could work to corral the spill with booms and other materials, agency representatives said.
Unfortunately, the tide was going out, spreading the fuel across a wider distance than might otherwise have been the case, Coast Guard Petty Officer Grant Bowers, from the Doran Beach station, said.
“We could smell it — people could smell it — around the bay, around the harbor,” he said.
Officials said it is common for fuel to be transferred between tanks to maintain balance on board a vessel and keep the boat from listing from one side to another. But for some reason that wasn’t yet clear, the crew left the pump running unattended — either because they were doing something else or they had forgotten about it.
Bowers said it was unclear how long the fuel was spilling into the harbor, but there’s no indication it got outside the harbor, Bowers said.
State fish and wildlife personnel had not seen any impact on wildlife as of Thursday morning, according to Robinson.
The Coast Guard’s Pacific Strike Team and members of the National Response Center, who remained on the scene Thursday, also were called, Bowers said.
The owner of the Barbara Marie, Blaine Rodgers, also has contracted with a private firm to address the cleanup, Coast Guard Lt. Pete Vasilarakis said.
Staff from the marina also were called in overnight to assist.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.
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