Workers finish cofferdam around barge beached on Columbia

Contractors have finished building a cofferdam around the beached and broken Davy Crockett, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday.

Workers can now move forward with dismantling the 431-foot vessel in place with minimal risk to the environment.

The vessel is beached on the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas.

The cleanup and recovery has consumed $10 million so far from the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The Coast Guard currently has the ability to tap another $3.5 million, although the tab has risen steadily since the operation was federalized on Jan. 27.

An effort by Brett Simpson, the owner of the vessel, to scrap the barge while it was afloat caused it to buckle and sink, authorities said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said contractors worked for 18 straight days to build the cofferdam and an impermeable silt barrier. The cofferdam is not water-tight, but is simply intended to keep pollutants from escaping into the river. Draining the water could make it easier to cut apart the vessel, but it would intensify pressure on the metal sheet pilings.