More than 13,000 gallons of fuel oil have been pumped from a 1965 shipwreck.
An 18 member team is removing the oil from the wreck due to the potential environmental hazard and containment booms have been installed around the site as a precaution.
The ship ran aground a beach at the Damon Point State Park and lay covered by sand for decades till waves exposed the rusting hulk and a beachcomber discovered oil earleier this year.
The park is an important habitat for several species of birds and a nesting site for the snowy plover and the streaked horn lark.
As much as 47,000 gallons could still be inside the 3 remaining fuel tanks in the wreck. The recovered oil is being taken for processing and re-blending to a storage operation on Kent for turning it into usable petroleum products.
The $1 million cost for pumping out the oil is being covered by the state's Oil Spill Response Account.

Leave a comment