Grounded Oil Barge Is Towed to Sea

An oil barge that ran aground off the coast of Rhode Island, leaking more than 800,000 gallons of heating fuel near a wildlife preserve, was refloated Friday and towed out to sea, the Coast Guard said.

Most of the oil left on the barge, which had been carrying 4 million gallons of fuel, was drained off the vessel into other barges and air was pumped into the container tanks of the grounded barge to give it buoyancy.

Tugs and salvage crews freed the barge, the North Cape, from the sandbar on which it was grounded and towed it out to sea, Coast Guard Petty Officer Lionel Bryant said.

Divers were inspecting the damage to the barge and if it is deemed seaworthy it will be towed to New York for repairs, he said.

Environmental damage caused by the spill is still being assessed.

But Coast Guard officials said most of the thin film of oil that had spread along the Atlantic coast had evaporated or been dispersed by heavy seas and strong winds during a storm on Wednesday.