The Nation : Diesel Fuel Leak Disrupts Navy Traffic

Diesel fuel from a dredge that sank in the St. Marys River channel on the Florida-Georgia border is threatening sensitive marshes and disrupting Navy traffic, federal officials said. The channel remained closed, blocking both commercial traffic from the Port of Fernandina in Florida and military traffic from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Henry Rohrs in Jacksonville, Fla. The dredge, which had been working to deepen the channel to accommodate the Navy’s Trident nuclear submarines, foundered and sank in high winds and heavy seas Saturday morning. While most of the leaking diesel oil from the 168-foot-long Crest floated into the Atlantic Ocean, some drifted inside the channel. Containment booms were erected to protect up-river creeks. Seven crew members from the Crest, owned by the Great Lakes Dredging & Dock Co., were plucked from the water as it sank.