Oil From Freighter Spill Contaminates New Area
Fuel oil from the grounded freighter Selendang Ayu has reached the fishing community of Dutch Harbor, 50 miles from the wreckage, prompting new concerns about the effect of last month’s spill off the western coast of Unalaska Island.
“Obviously the extent of contamination has grown substantially,” said Leslie Pearson, a spill response official with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “It makes you wonder what other shoreline impacts there may be.”
Pearson said the agency was trying to assess the threat to the local water table as well as to seafood processing plants.
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