Barge strikes Texas bridge, spilling oil into Galveston Bay

A barge struck a bridge in Galveston, Texas, spilling oil into the bay and temporarily shutting down access to a small nearby island.

The collision around 10 a.m. local time Wednesday forced traffic to close in both directions on the road from Galveston to Pelican Island, the city government said in a tweet.

The Lance Corporal barge, carrying vacuum gas oil, was leaving the Galveston terminal when it crashed into the bridge and began leaking, according to the US Coast Guard. The size of the spill wasn’t yet clear, the Coast Guard said. 

The incident doesn’t impact traffic in the Houston Ship Channel, or at Galveston, Texas City or Freeport terminals where multiple oil refineries and crude-exporting terminals are located.

There were no injuries, and officials will leave the barge in place until it is safe to move, said Galveston County Sheriff’s office. 

The incident occurred less than two months after a container ship struck a key bridge in Baltimore, killing six and disrupting the flow of goods to ports across the US East Coast.