A barge strike has resulted in Pelican Island Bridge shutting down for traffic with the exception of one lane.
It’s unclear what led up to the strike, but Galveston officials said a barge hit the bridge, causing an oil spill. As of now there have been no injuries reported.
According to our TV partner Channel Two, the U.S. Coast Guard has been called to help with the oil spill and TxDot engineers are responding to help.
A Galveston official also told Channel Two that the intercostal waterway will be shut down, due to the oil spill spreading in that direction.
Additionally, Texas A&M has canceled classes for the day, which roughly affected only 30 students because it’s the end of the semester.
Galveston County also sent the following statement to KTRH:
At approximately 10:00am this morning, a barge owned by Martin
Petroleum collided with the Pelican Island Bridge that connects Galveston Island to Pelican
Island. Power was temporarily interrupted to Pelican Island, which is home to Texas A&M
Galveston. Secondary power has been restored to Pelican Island.
Vehicle traffic across the Pelican Island Bridge has been halted. Vessel traffic in the channel has also been halted. Structural impact to the Pelican Island Bridge is being assessed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
Vacuum gas oil from the barge has been visually confirmed in the water. This has caused a closing of a section of the Intracoastal Waterway from Mile Marker 350.5 to Mile Marker 357, approximately 6.5 miles. The capacity of the barge is 30,000 gallons and the amount that has leaked out is unknown.
Responders are on scene include:
- United States Coast Guard
- Galveston City Office of Emergency Management
- Galveston County Office of Emergency management
- Galveston City Fire and EMS
- Texas Department of Transportation
- Texas A&M Galveston
- Port of Galveston Police
- Galveston County Office of Emergency Management
- Galveston Police Department
- Texas Department of Public Safety
- Galveston County Health District
- Texas Division of Emergency Management
Evacuations have started for those that want to leave via the bridge.