On September 1, 2021 the Department of Justice announced that a consent decree valued at $2.1 million was finalized to restore natural resources damaged during the Bayport Channel oil spill. 

On May 10, 2019, an estimated 599,676 gallons of oil in the form of a gasoline blending stock known as reformate was discharged from tank barge 30015T during a collision with the tanker ship Genesis River near Bayport, Texas. 

The bow of the Genesis River cut through the hull of the barge and ruptured the barge’s storage tanks. Oil discharged from the barge into the waterway and polluted parts of the Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, and the Texas coastline. Following the spill, NOAA and co-trustees worked with the responsible party to cooperatively assess natural resource damages arising from the spill.

The settlement will go toward resolving natural resource damage claims and restoring habitats impacted by pollution.