Crews Attack Diesel Spill in Alaska Sound
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ANCHORAGE — Workers have cleaned up nearly a third of the diesel spilled by a sunken fishing vessel into Prince William Sound, the largest spill there since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, officials said Tuesday.
Fuel began leaking Saturday when a fishing boat hit a rocky ledge 400 yards offshore and sank in about 1,000 feet of water. About 35,000 gallons of diesel--the entire contents of the boat’s fuel tanks--have spilled.
The spill is far from the 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez that fouled 1,000 miles of the Alaska shore but officials said it will likely harm marine life.
Patches of diesel have been detected in 40 square miles of the northern sound, an area rich with wildlife.
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