Coast Guard monitors Tampa Bay spill
The U.S. Coast Guard said it is monitoring a fuel spill in the Big Bend Channel of Tampa Bay that occurred Saturday after the sinking of a harbor tug.
The Coast guard said it received a call Saturday morning from an official representing Oscar Renda Contracting, who said the tug Marilyn K. McFarland had sunk and was discharging fuel in the channel north of Apollo Beach.
A crew from Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg arrived on scene discovered that a mixture of about 200-gallons of oil and diesel fuel had escaped from the sunken tug.
The Coast Guard said the incident was not interfering with vessel movements and no wildlife had been affected by the spill. Oscar Renda Contracting quickly contained the spill and hired Southern Waste Services (SWS) for cleanup.