The Nation - News from Feb. 2, 1988

Divers in Washington state determined that a sunken tanker barge leaked 46,200 gallons of heavy oil from one ruptured compartment, but the barge’s other seven oil-filled compartments remained intact. Coast Guard Chief William Giles said divers found the barge to be “structurally sound” as it rested upside down in the waters of Rosario Straight, easing concerns that the barge’s leaking oil could ultimately become the state’s worst oil spill. The successful assessment of the barge’s condition came after dangerous currents beat back divers in three earlier attempts to get at the 200-foot barge, which had been loaded with 318,000 gallons of oil. The Coast Guard said the situation could quickly turn into the state’s worst marine disaster if all the oil aboard the barge leaked into the strait, which borders the waterways lacing Washington’s emerald-green San Juan Islands.