The Houston Ship Channel was closed after a tugboat moving two vessels collided with an oil tanker, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The collision Friday caused one of the two barges to capsize.
There were no injuries. But the barges were carrying 25,000 tons of reformate, an oil-refining byproduct used to make gasoline. Some of the gasoline product is leaking into the water, the Coast Guard said. It is unclear how much is leaking, and what caused the collision.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Saturday it is responding to the collision, and has deployed teams of contractors to conduct air monitoring to support the Coast Guard and local first responders. The Coast Guard said air monitoring is ongoing, and “if any readings above actionable levels are detected, advisories will be provided to local emergency operations centers.”
The Houston Ship Channel is a conduit to the Gulf of Mexico and to foreign markets for energy products.
