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The US Coast Guard said a tank of used oil that was on land overflowed into Steamboat Creek on Tuesday afternoon.
NORFOLK, Virginia – The U.S. Coast has said it continues to respond to an oil spill in Norfolk.
Officials said an onshore waste oil tank overflowed into Steamboat Creek on Tuesday afternoon. We don’t know how much oil ended up in the water, but the Coast Guard says the source is secure.
About 300 feet of shore would be affected. The Coast Guard said “the responsible party has been identified and is fully cooperating and participating in all response efforts.”
On Thursday, the Coast Guard said oil spill response teams had collected about 200 gallons of a mixture of used oil and water, as well as 185 bags of soiled debris since cleanup efforts began.
The Virginia Department of Health said the cleanup is expected to take several weeks and urges people to avoid the area. People should not enter Steamboat Creek to fish or swim.
The VDH said residents nearby could smell the oil as the cleanup continues.
A pollution investigation team from the Coast Guard in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Norfolk Fire Marshal’s Office are working with local agencies to coordinate cleanup operations and assess the environmental impacts.
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