In Orange County, Texas, parts of the Sabine Lake/Neeches River Estuary were contaminated by industrial and municipal waste disposal, including sludge from local petrochemical industries, starting in the 1960s. Industrial waste disposal was discontinued in the late 1960s, but municipal and construction wastes were accepted until about 1971. In 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the site to the National Priorities List, based on the release or threatened release of hazardous substances, making it a priority site for investigation and potential clean-up the Superfund law.

On May 11, 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a crude oil spill discharged from a Shell Offshore, Inc. wellhead flow line in the Green Canyon Block 248 subsea oil production system. This system is located approximately 97 miles off south of Timbalier Island, Louisiana. The oil leaked from a piping system used to transport oil from a production well on the seafloor. Shell reported to DOI’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement that the incident resulted in an estimated discharge of 1,926 barrels of oil, or 80,892 gallons, into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hazardous Waste Site | Beaumont, TX | 1954 to 2007

On September 30, 2002, the container ship M/V Everreach spilled approximately 12,500 gallons of oil into the waters of the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina.

Hazardous Waste Site | Tampa, FL | 1977 to present

What Happened?

From 1977 until 1991, local manufacturing companies disposed of battery casings, furnace slag, and construction debris at this illegal dumpsite in Tampa, Florida. Lead, arsenic, and other toxic substances from the improperly handled waste contaminated soils, groundwater, and wetlands at the site.

Oil Spill | Calcasieu River, LA | June 2006

What Happened?

On June 19, 2006, over 99,000 barrels of waste oil and millions of gallons of untreated oily wastewater overflowed from storage tanks and discharged into a containment area in CITGO’s Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex. An estimated 54,000 barrels of waste oil and an undetermined amount of oily wastewater flowed out of the containment area and into the Indian Marais, the Calcasieu River, and adjoining waterways in the Calcasieu Estuary.
 

Oil Spill | Jefferson Parish, LA | July 2008

What Happened?

On July 23, 2008, the chemical tanker Tintomara collided with fuel barge DM932 on the Mississippi River, near downtown New Orleans. The Tintomara suffered minor damage, but the DM932 barge split into two sections. Within hours of the spill, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) was on-scene, providing support for the cleanup and assessment of natural resource damages caused by the 270,000 gallons of spilled fuel oil.

The Koppers Site formerly housed wood treatment and fertilizer manufacturing facilities. These facilities released hazardous substances into wetland and river habitat in and near the Ashley River. The groundwater at the site was also contaminated, and impacted nearby wetland and river habitat.

Oil Spill | San Juan, PR | January 7, 1994

What Happened?

On January 7, 1994, the T/B Morris J. Berman—a 302-foot-long barge loaded with 1.5 million gallons of fuel oil—broke away from its tow line and drifted around near San Juan, Puerto Rico. The barge grounded on a nearby coral reef, rupturing seven fuel holding tanks and released approximately 800,000 gallons of fuel oil into nearshore waters.

Hazardous Waste Site | Texas City, Texas | 1964 – 1997

From 1964 to 1997, on the shores of Swan Lake and Galveston Bay, the Malone Services Company operated a reclamation, storage and disposal facility for waste oils, chemicals, and hazardous wastes. During its operation, hundreds of businesses sent more than 480 million gallons of organic and inorganic waste to the facility. Wastes were stored in two earthen, unlined pits which released contaminants to the groundwater within the site, and runoff into surface waters.

Ship Grounding | Guayanilla, Puerto Rico | December 2009
 

What Happened?

On December 15, 2009, the liquid natural gas carrier Matthew grounded on coral reef habitat off the south coast of Puerto Rico near Guayanilla. The vessel was eventually freed from the reef with the assistance of local tug boats.

Ship Grounding | Yabucoa, Puerto Rico | October 2009

What Happened?

On October 27, 2009, the T/V Port Stewart, a tank vessel carrying seven million gallons of oil, struck coral reef habitat off the southeast shore of Puerto Rico near the entrance to Yabucoa Channel. The vessel was eventually freed with the assistance of local tug boats. Extraction activities affected another section of reef approximately 600 feet to the south.

Hazardous Waste Site | Calcasieu Parish, LA | 1920s to Present

What Happened

The banks of Bayou d’Inde have been industrialized since oil and natural gas deposits were discovered nearby in the 1920s. Chemical manufacturing and petroleum refining facilities have released toxins—including PCBspolychlorinated biphenyls; a class of chemicals previously used in manufacturing that remain in the environment for many decades, accumulate in living creatures, and pose health hazards to humans, wildlife, and fish., dioxinsA group of highly toxic chemicals that are the byproduct of some industrial processes and incineration of plastics; they accumulate in living creatures and are known to cause cancer in humans., lead, and mercury—into the bayou and surrounding areas for decades.

Oil Spill | Galveston Bay, TX | March 22, 2014

What Happened?

On March 22, 2014, the 585 foot bulk carrier M/V Summer Wind collided with the oil tank-barge Kirby 27706 in Galveston Bay near Texas City, Texas. The barge spilled approximately 168,000 gallons of intermediate fuel oil into lower Galveston Bay and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. The majority of the discharged oil stranded on shorelines between Galveston and Matagorda Islands.

Oil Spill | Gulf of Mexico | April 2010

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion, which killed 11 men, caused the rig to sink and started a catastrophic oil leak from the well. Before it was capped three months later, approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Hazardous Waste Site | North Carolina | 1936 to Present

The Kerr-McGee Site is a former creosote wood-treating facility located near the Cape Fear River, Brunswick River and Sturgeon Creek in Navassa, NC. The facility was dismantled by 1980, but creosote and sludge were left on site, which led to the release of contaminants into the surrounding evironment.

Hazardous Waste Release | Riverview, FL | September 2004

What Happened?

On September 5, 2004, acidic process water was released from the Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC storage containment system during Hurricane Frances. By the following day, an estimated 65 million gallons had emptied into Archie Creek Canal, Hillsborough Bay, and surrounding wetlands.

Oil Spill | Gulf of Mexico | November 2005

What Happened?

On November 11, 2005, Tank Barge DBL 152 struck a collapsed pipeline service platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The barge spilled an estimated 1.9 million gallons of a heavy oil mixture. Most of the oil was denser than seawater, causing it to sink to the bottom of the Gulf. 

Hazardous Waste Site | McIntosh, Alabama | 1950s to Present

Beginning in the 1950s, the Ciba-Geigy facility manufactured the pesticide DDT and other chemicals. Manufacturing waste and other hazardous substances were released into unlined pits on the property, and discharged into the adjacent Tombigbee River and its floodplain until 1963.

Hazardous Waste Release | Polk County, FL | December 1997

What Happened?

On December 7, 1997, a breach occurred in a containment stack at the Mulberry Phosphates Inc. (MPI) facility in Mulberry, Florida. Approximately 50 million gallons of acidic process water was released into Skinned Sapling Creek, flowing into the Alafia River. The contaminated water ultimately traveled approximately 36 miles of the Alafia River before emptying into Tampa Bay.

Marine Debris | Florida Keys | 2002 to Present

Hazardous Waste Site | Brunswick, GA | 1919 to Present

From the 1919 to 1994, the LCP Chemical site was occupied by a series of industrial operations. An oil refinery, power plant, and chlor-alkali facility released multiple hazardous substances into the surrounding area. Contamination has been found in Purvis Creek, Turtle River, Brunswick River, and surrounding salt marsh, all part of the Turtle-Brunswick River Estuary (TBRE).

On April 27, 2006, the oil tanker T/V Margara ran aground on a shallow coral reef close to the Bahia de Tallaboa in Puerto Rico. The vessel was successfully removed from the site the following day without leaking oil into the water. However, response efforts and removal of the ship caused significant additional injury to the reef.

Ship Grounding | Puerto Rico | June 2012

The Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustees are committed to 

It’s been two years since the Deepwater Horizon Trustees settled with BP and began implementing our programmatic plan to restore the Gulf.

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group approved and released its Final Strategic Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #3: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitats in the Barataria Basin, Louisiana (PDF 167 pg).

In January, the Jeff Friend Trail at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Gulf Shores, Alabama, was re-opened after closing for restoration last fall. The project includes new longer-lasting composite material boardwalks, several new viewing platforms, and easier-to-navigate trail materials.

The Deepwater Horizon Oceanic Fish Restoration Project, which aims to restore a portion of pelagic fish populations in the Gulf of Mexico, began its second year on January 1.

NOAA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are working with Gulf pelagic longline vessel owners to reduce fish mortality through a temporary, voluntary fishing repose. The Trustees selected this project, formerly known as the Pelagic Longline Bycatch Reduction Project, in the fourth phase of early restoration.

Contact us for more information about the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program.