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mystery oil sheen washington

Columbia River Mystery Sheen

Don Martin
Total Views: 59
October 25, 2018

A sheen is pictured by a Coast Guard member aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Sector Columbia River during an overflight of the river between Washington and Oregon, Oct. 24, 2018. U.S. Coast Guard Photo

A large three mile mystery sheen on the Columbia River near Kalama, Washington on Wednesday initiated the immediate response of the Coast Guard, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Oregon Department of Environment.

The spill was reported Wednesday morning by the crew of the dredge YAQUINA alongside the Temco Grain Terminal.  An Agency overflight at noon yesterday reported the sheen had reached Longview.  In addition to the overflight, Agency boats collected samples of the sheen to identify the source of the sheen and, at that time, determined the sheen to thin for recovery efforts. 

The Coast Guard sent up an MH-60 Jayhawk around 1500 Wednesday in an effort to track the movement and the size.  The overflight reported that the source was not generating any further discharge, but did not identify the source of the sheen. In addition, the Coast Guard also reported that the sheen had moved downstream of Kalama. 

Early indications are that no wildlife was impacted by the sheen.

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