PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Documents released by the Coast Guard show the initial response to the grounding of a fuel barge in the Columbia River near Hood River last year was mostly confusion.
No fuel was spilled after the New Dawn ran aground last July. The barge is owned and piloted by Tidewater Barge Lines of Vancouver, Wash.
But spill response officials from Washington, Oregon and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said after the incident they should have been notified earlier and the response should have been more aggressive.
Officials from Tidewater and the Coast Guard have since agreed to quickly notify the spill response agencies even if there’s only potential for a spill.
