Press Release -  4.22.2012

Diesel Fuel Spill at the Port of Wilmington

(Wilmington, Del) --- In the early morning hours of Sunday April 22, 2012 approximately 1300 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from a diesel fuel storage tank of one of the Port crane’s onto the terminal and into that portion of Christina River immediately adjacent to the Port’s Berth 3 and Berth 4. The Port’s emergency response contractor has been at the Port since 04:00 conducting spill containment and clean-up operations. Those operations are expected to continue throughout the day today. U.S. Coast Guard and DNREC officials are at the scene monitoring the clean-up.

The origin of this spill appears to have been caused by an electrical malfunction of a fuel tank fill pump. Crane engineers are on the scene to further identify and correct the cause of this spill. In the interim no further leakage from this unit is anticipated.

Port operations continue while the clean-up operations are in progress.
 

About the Port of Wilmington, Delaware
Founded in 1923, the Port of Wilmington is a full service mid‐Atlantic seaport on the Delaware River strategically located and serving over 200 million North American consumers by overnight truck and rail delivery. Wilmington ranks as the nation’s leading gateway for imported perishable cargo and operates the largest on‐dock cold storage complex in North America. An economic engine for the State of Delaware and the region, it is responsible for 4,300 good paying local jobs, $337 million in annual business revenue, and more than $31 million in annual State and local taxes. The Port is owned and operated by the Diamond State Port Corporation, a corporation of the State of Delaware.

 

XXX END XXX   Home