Oil Tanker’s First Mate Accused of Substance Abuse After Spill

An oil tanker ran aground Thursday, spilling 260,000 gallons of heating oil into a busy shipping channel between New Jersey and New York, and the first mate was arrested on a charge of substance abuse.

It was the fifth major oil spill in the area since January.

Football-size globs of oil washed ashore on both sides of the Kill Van Kull waterway, which was closed to ships after the tanker BT Nautilus hit bottom while docking.

First Mate Gregory Frederick Geoffrey, 52, of Merske, England, was arrested after the accident, said Christopher Florentz, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Robert J. Del Tufo. Geoffrey was charged with operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and negligent discharge of a pollutant without a permit, Florentz said. Geoffrey entered an innocent plea Thursday night.

Drug tests were ordered for other ship workers and the harbor pilot who was on board to help steer the ship to dock.

Oil leaked for almost five hours from the ship, which was carrying 12 million gallons of heating fuel, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Rybacki said.

Divers found a gash about 30 feet long and 12 to 16 inches wide in one of the ship’s tanks, Rybacki said. The tank holds 1.2 million gallons.

New York Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, after a helicopter tour of the area with New York Environmental Conservation Commissioner Thomas Jorling, called the spill serious.

“There are areas on beaches and in coves which are clearly contaminated with this very heavy oil,” he said.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Gene Hoff said booms were strung around the ship to contain the floating oil. Vacuum and skimming equipment was being used to clean up the slick, and up to 300 workers were expected to use rakes, shovels and absorbent material to clean the shoreline.

The recent rash of spills in Kill Van Kull and connecting Arthur Kill has brought harsh criticism of the oil industry from environmentalists and state officials. The waterways separate New Jersey from New York’s Staten Island, and lie along an industrialized area.