Sunken barge in Quincy poses no threat, officials say

The sinking of a barge carrying a construction crane in the Quincy Shipyard on Sunday left a light oil sheen on the water. Containment booms and cleanup efforts overnight appeared to remove all the oil, officials said.

Despite concerns raised by the barge's 200-gallon diesel fuel capacity, the oil spill from the submerged barge and crane "posed no significant threat to the environment," a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said Monday.

Local environmentalists said the submerged barge raises more concerns than just oil pollution. "Yeah, we should be concerned about the oil, but who is going to pull it out of there?" said Steve Perdios of Quincy Environmental Network, a local advocacy group.

Perdios said a submerged wreck poses obstacles to other commerce in the Fore River. "What are we going to do with the barge now that it's down there?" he asked.

The Coast Guard did not return calls seeking information on how the barge would be removed.

The sinking of the barge was reported by its owner, Sterling Equipment Inc., at 9:40 p.m. Sunday, in accord with state environmental regulations. The barge had been moored off 555 South St. on the Fore River.

The company reported a barge with a large crane had sunk in the Quincy Shipyard and "a light sheen" on the water could be seen, according to Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Ed Coletta. The company deployed booms to control the spill and also notified the Coast Guard and Quincy harbormaster.

The lost barge was identified by the Coast Guard as the 180-foot Sei 17, which had a capacity for 200 gallons of diesel fuel. The Coast Guard reported the sinking occurred at 8 p.m. and no one was on board the vessel.

The sinking was under investigation by the Coast Guard. The barge remained under water early this week.

After notifying the state of the oil spill, Sterling Equipment called in Cyn Environmental Services of Stoughton, which put down its own booms and brought in a vacuum truck to vacuum oil from the water. But according to reports made to the state, the "sheen was so light there was no product to vacuum up."

"They used absorbent pads to sop up the oil inside the boom area," Coletta said.

By Monday, the sheen was no longer visible, and Cyn was told to take up the booms. Coletta said responders were trying to determine the source of the oil spill, given the presence of diesel fuel in both the crane and in the barge. The barge was also holding a storage tank -- contents unknown -- on its surface.

Sterling Equipment is the equipment division of Jay Cashman Inc., the large civil and marine construction company based in Quincy. Sterling general manager Mark Quinn did not return calls seeking information.

Quincy harbormaster Patrick Morrissey said Jay Cashman Inc. is responsible for recovering the submerged barge. He said that while the Coast Guard acts as the "point man" in overseeing the recovery of the barge, Cashman will probably do the salvage itself because marine salvage is part of its business.

The submerged barge does not currently pose a threat to navitation, Morrissey said.

While the environmental threat from the sunk barge appears to be over, Morrissey said that he can't close the book on the incident. "We still need to get it off the bottom."

Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.