SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln created a massive slick south of San Clemente Island when it accidentally discharged more than 10,000 gallons of aviation jet fuel into the ocean, Dec. 5.
 | | | | | Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln discharged more than 10,000 gallons of fuel off San Clemente Island. | | |
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The spill eventually spread over an area 10 miles long by 2 miles wide before it was discovered, according to a Coast Guard assessment published in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
A Navy spokesperson stated that crew aboard the 1,092-foot warship noticed the discharge during preparedness drills. The spill originated in the bowels of the 206-foot-tall (keel to mast) carrier.
The fuel leak apparently occurred when pressurized aviation fuel somehow flooded a filtering machinery compartment and spread to adjacent areas before discovery.
Abraham Lincoln is powered by two nuclear reactors, but stores hundreds of thousands of gallons of aviation fuel in tanks to supply fixed-wing jets, such as F/A-18 Hornets and other aircraft, including helicopters.
Immediately upon learning of the discharge at approximately 6:30 p.m., crew aboard the aircraft carrier isolated the leak. Navigators changed course to take the vessel farther offshore.
The incident occurred approximately 10 miles south of San Clemente Island -- about 60 miles off San Diego Bay. Although the accidental discharge lingered in the water several days over a weekend before dissipating, there were no reported incidents of recreational boaters encountering the discharge.
In 1999, Abraham Lincoln accidentally dumped 1,000 gallons of the same fuel into Puget Sound, according to a Washington State Department of Ecology report. State workers were able to erect containment booms and recover approximately 600 gallons of aviation jet fuel.
The Navy is exempt from paying fines for such spills, but has paid for environmental cleanup in Washington, the report stated. No such cleanup was reported in the case of the spill off San Clemente Island.
This article first appeared in the December 2008 issue of The Log Newspaper. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
