July 27, 2024
crews were dispatched to the scene of a sunken boat that was leaking oil and fuel into the San Joaquin Delta.

BETHEL ISLAND — Emergency and cleanup crews were dispatched to the scene of a sunken boat that was leaking fuel and oil into the San Joaquin Delta on Monday.

Units from several agencies went to the scene of the spill, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.

“A submerged tug boat in the Empire Tract area, near Herman and Helen’s, is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway,” the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office reported in a social media post.

Herman and Helen’s is a long-shuttered marina in Stockton on West Eight Mile Road.

The boating unit and ground units from the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office were on the scene to help coordinate efforts to deal with the oil and fuel leaks.

“We have contacted outside agencies to assist, including Environmental Health, Office of Emergency Services, Fish & Wildlife, Woodbridge Fire Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard Pollution Response Team,” the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office stated Monday.

The location as described by the sheriff’s office is about eight miles northeast of Bethel Island in eastern Contra Costa County.

The extent or the cause of the spill wasn’t immediately reported by the sheriff’s office. It wasn’t immediately clear how the tug boat became submerged.

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