The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(HOUSTON) — The Houston Ship Channel was reopened between the Lynchburg Ferry Crossing and Carpenters Bayou at 2:40 p.m. Thursday after a benzene spill on the tanker Maritime Jingan's deck.
At approximately noon, Sector Houston-Galveston watch standers received a call from Vopak Terminal personnel that benzene had been spilled on Maritime Jingan and that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had also been notified. The channel was closed at 12:23 p.m.
The leak has been secured and the cause is under investigation. A small portion of the benzene entered the water.
