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Texas waterway still closed due to oil spill


    HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Sabine-Neches Waterway remained closed Tuesday as crews prepared to clear the main channel for limited traffic and workers continued picking up oil spilled in a tanker-barge collision last weekend.

    Plans called for moving the tanker Eagle Otome to the side of the main channel Wednesday and to reopen the waterway to limited traffic on Thursday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

    The Eagle Otome, carrying crude to a refinery, was struck by a barge tow traveling in the opposite direction Saturday, spilling an estimated 11,000 barrels (462,000 gallons) of sour Mexican oil into the water.

    The Coast Guard closed the channel to all traffic and began containment and cleanup operations, which so far have picked up 71,400 gallons of oil and 180,600 gallons of oil-water mix, the spokeswoman said.

    An investigation is underway. Officials said neither vessel lost power prior to the accident, despite early reports to the contrary.

    It was the worst Texas spill since 1994, but much smaller than the 258,000 barrels spilled by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.

    The waterway supplies oil to four Texas refineries - Motiva Enterprises, Exxon Mobil Corp, Total and Valero - with capability of refining 1.15 million barrels per day, which is about 6.5 percent of total U.S. capacity.