10 Chemical Drums Are Fished From Back Bay

Nine 55-gallon drums containing potentially toxic chemicals, and another open drum from which chemicals may have leaked, were discovered Friday in the Newport Back Bay, according to the Newport Beach Fire Department fire marshal.

Apparently the drums washed into the bay from a construction site as a result of the recent storm, Fire Marshal Dennis Lockard said.

Lockard said the nature of the chemicals and any harm they may have caused to the bay were still under investigation.

But Lockard added: “At first glance there is no evidence of any environmental damage, and there doesn’t appear to be any wrongdoing. It looks like an accident.”

He said the drums were filled with a flammable liquid believed to be of a kind used in cement work. He said a construction site located north of the bay and beside a storm drain has been identified as the probable origin. But he said investigators will have to wait until Monday to contact the construction operator.

Lockard said the Harbor Department discovered the first drum floating in the bay about 10 a.m. Friday. A further search using helicopters, he said, enabled authorities to find nine more drums.

The U.S. Coast Guard contracted with IT Corp., an industrial cleanup company, to remove the drums and identify the chemicals, Lockard said. Also, he said, the Coast Guard and state Department of Fish and Game are determining if any of the chemicals flowed into the bay and did any ecological damage.