MANISTEE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Since Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have been working to contain and remove a diesel fuel oil spill in Lake Michigan.
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According to authorities, there is now no oil spilling out as crews have worked to temporarily plug the hole among other repairs.
“A visible sheen was located between Portage Lake and the Portage Point Wood Reserve,” the Coast Guards said after a Thursday flyover, “The sheen is estimated to be 2 nautical miles long and .75 nautical miles wide. The closest to shore is .5 nautical miles from the Portage Point Woods Preserve.”
Initial estimates indicate that there was at max roughly 45,000 gallons of diesel that spilled on Wednesday, which took place about a mile and a half nautical miles offshore.
“At approximately 2:50 p.m. the 612-foot bulk carrier motor vessel Manitowoc reported a hull breach on its starboard diesel tank,” the release states in part. “At the time of the report, the vessel was at anchor 1.5 nautical miles offshore, northwest of where the Manistee River enters Lake Michigan.”
An alert sent out by a District Health Department in the area advised against people going to the beach.
“Residents are also advised to avoid body contact with surface (of) any water along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Manistee County if they observe the presence of diesel fuel contamination,” part of the alert said.
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While authorities are not detecting any active spills, they are asking the public to call (231) 723-6241 and report any confirmed sightings of diesel reaching the shoreline.
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